All or Nothing
by Torie Rilistkrytcat
Summary: Slightly AU. Heather makes a very different choice on the volcano, leaving Alejandro unscathed and assuming the role of her boyfriend. At first, her life seems to improve, but when circumstances change drastically she finds herself bitter and torn. Can she let her stone heart thaw out, or will her stubborn nature drive the only person who cares about her away? A/H, Multichap.
1. A Connection going deeper than any game

**AN: I apologise for any random word orders, bad formatting or weird spelling mistakes. they will have occurred because of the following reasons:**

**A. I copied it from a document and when I pasted it, it was all practically dead: the formatting had disappeared and it was all one chunk, with some random words deleted and anything in italics or bold gone normal. So I had to quickly fix it and I may have overlooked some mistakes.**

**B. I typed it on my IPad, which randomly autocorrects some stuff without alerting me to real errors.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama. **

**Setting: This is in TDWT, during the finale, when they're on the volcano and Heather accidentally reveals she loves Alejandro. However, in my fic, it spans off in a different direction, and shows what would have happened (well, what might have) if she hadn't betrayed him.**

**THIS IS A MULTICHAP NOT A ONESHOT.**

* * *

..."Our connection goes deeper than any game. Together, we could take over the world!"

Heather felt like throwing up with shock.

This- this couldn't be real. This had to be a nightmare, or some sick joke. In a minute, she reasoned, he'd laugh cruelly and toss her aside. But he seemed genuine, the light from the volcano reflecting off his back and illuminating his silhouette as he grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. Around them, former contestants stared in shock, and they were all waiting for a reply Heather didn't think she could deliver.

"Well, I suppose I might... actually feel a-a little something."

It was a stupid answer- one that was vague and not exactly promising anything. But what was she supposed to say; "Oh yes, I love you!" And watch while everyone laughed at her and he blew her off? Heather couldn't take that risk.

"Mi Amor!"

Heather was about to search for a response, but Alejandro had made a move all too quickly for her to comprehend; he'd practically slammed his face on hers, his lips interlocking with her own ones. It wasn't romantic in the slightest bit; her eyes widened with a deer-caught-in-headlights look, her cheeks bulged out, she wasn't embracing him back yet, and they weren't being swept up in the waves on a moonlit beach; they were standing in sweltering heat, in front of a group of gasping and groaning onlookers.

But... It was enough.

Enough to shock Heather, rivet the stiff and almost painful realization into her.

Alejandro... Loved her.

Or, it seemed like was enough to make her relax, and shut her eyes, giving into his passion for just a moment, before another reality check shot into her.

What the hell was she doing? Flight instinct kicked in, and she became subconsciously planning what to do; how could she shake off Alejandro? He was-after all- her competition: her sworn enemy, in fact, and there was no way she'd let the weird twinges in her heart she'd been feeling lately rule her head. Love- hah! A million dollars should throw a boyfriend in the shade, shouldn't it? All she could do was use one cliche move- a swift knee to the groin- and he'd be chopped liver. She could throw him off and win. So easy...

So tempting...

Her knee began to fold into the desired position, ready to be used as a deadly weapon. _Hah! So long, sucker... _

Or, it should have been easy. But something- and Heather refused to believe what it truly was- ceased her movement. Just a flicker, deep down; something that made her chest feel hollow. _Dammit! I can't do it!_ She thought furiously, wanting to kick herself. _Stupid Heather_.

But somehow, with Alejandro's hands slowly moving from her arms to around her neck, her resolved wavered. She cursed- or would have cursed, if her mouth hadn't been paralyzed in shock. She knew, really, that if she gathered enough strength she could have pulled away, but a small shred of her being wanted to kiss him back.

She wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved or annoyed when Chris interrupted rudely.

"Uh- as much as I want to watch you two make out... NOT... We're on a SCHED-ULE!" The host snapped condescendingly, pointing dramatically at his wrist once again, eyes narrowed. "One of you guys have to win!"Alejandro begrudgingly pulled away, leaving Heather flushed and wide-eyed with humiliation and confusion. The two exchanges glances quickly, both unsure about the whole situation, and Heather bit her lip, eyes traveling towards the crudely constructed wooden Dummy she'd discarded at the edge of the volcano. About a minute and a half ago, the only major focus in her mind was hurling it into the fire and winning- though losing Alejandro forever had been niggling at the back of her head.

But now, she didn't really know what she wanted.

_He KISSED me... But I HATE him... But I LOVE him.. And he loves me... I THINK? _

She looked at Alejandro once again, trying to read what his eyes displayed in some hope of clearing up her confusion.

"You take the million, Heather." He decided.

Heather rolled her eyes."Yeah, right." She snapped on an impulse. Don't be so noble, you idiot."We go in for the million together."

_Way to go, Heather. The snide part of her brain responded. Last chance to take the mil-GONE!_

Chris rolled his eyes. "Nice gesture, lovebirds, except there is only ONE million! I ain't springing for another, kids."

"So?" Alejandro said defensively, retrieving his own sacrifice from the ground. "We can share. As long as mi nina hermosa is happy." He winked at Heather, who reddened even further.

"Blech!" She heard Duncan mutter from the wall of onlookers, but gave him a filthy glare, hoisting up the ridiculously heavy doll she'd- or rather, her team had- assembled. Then, standing at Alejandro's side, staring deeply into the mouth of the volcano, she took a deep breat. The heat radiating off the lava was sweltering and oppressive as she leaned in. This was her last chance, really, to take off; betray Alejandro by hurling the dummy in and winning- but somehow, even for her, that seemed too dirty. The cunning, conniving part of her may have wanted to, but a heart that was existed buried under years of callous scheming and bitchy deeds wouldn't allow her to do it.

Alejandro slipped his hand onto her free one, both holding the dummies up- it was more of a strain for Heather than Alejandro- then she heard the spainiard's voice.

"Uno... dos... Tres... Now, Amor!"

Her grip loosened, and the two mannequins cartwheeled down, hitting the flames below in the same second. Heather's body tensed, then pride sunk in.

It was over.

She'd won half a million dollars.

And she'd won Alejandro...

Chris cleared his throat testily. "Well, since you two sissies (both simultaneously rolled their eyes) and I REALLY can't afford a tiebreaker, I'd like to declare- this is SO lame- the two winners of total drama world tour; Heather and Alejandro!"

There was a burst of forced, unfeeling applause from the comgngregation of past contestants, all who were glaring at the two. Heather didn't really care.

Then, Alejandro swooped her up in an embrace and suddenly, the clarity of the moment rushing to her head, she was embracing him back.

"We won, Chica!" He told her triumphantly. Chris, who appeared rather irritated, tossed the briefcase of money to them; it landed with a clunk a few inches from Heather's foot. Alejandro, still grasping one of Heather's hands, bent down to retrieve it, but a sinister rumble shook the air and startled them.

"*CENSORED*!" Heather yelled, regaining her balance. " What the hell was that?"

But her question was answered by a wizened, old Hawaiian local, who tottered into sight warily.

"Y-you didn't throw any pineapples into the volcano, did you?"

Heather and Alejandro's eyes slid to Chris suspiciously. The host shrugged, but a glint of concern crossed his face.

"There are signs EVERYWHERE!" The locals searched, gesturing around. However, there didn't seem to be any signs...

That is, until the group of contestants reluctantly shifted aside to reveal a vast flock of warning signs.

"Oh, yeah." Chris said lazily, not seeming to care. "They really wrecked the shot, so we put the human wall there."

Heather gaped at him in disbelief, before smacking her face into her palm at Chris's idiocy.

"Don't you know what happens when pineapples meet lava?" the locals cautioned, before stumbling away, just as the mouth of the volcano gave another loud heave, the once-still lava churning.

Heather dived down and she scrambled to get the case with her and Alejandro's winnings, but just as her hand closed around it, there came an animalistic cry from behind her.

_Oh, great. One thing after another..._

Crouching aloft at the edge of the volcano, the familiar, tattered form of the used-to-be-Ezekiel thing growled at her, his bloodshot eyes training onto the briefcase filled with copious amounts of money. Ezekiel sunk back on his legs, preparing to spring...

Suddenly, Heather was knocked back, a rotting stench clouding her nose. Her spine slammed into the ground, knocking the breath out of her, as Ezekiel scrabbled over her, his clawlike hands attempting to prise the suitcase from her grip, kicking her sharply in the stomach in an attempt to subdue her. (as a creature, Ezekiel seemed infinitely more dangerous than as a human,)

"Get off her, _falta demonio_!"

Heather blinked in shock as Alejandro ripped the scrawny creature off her fiercely. She gathered herself up swiftly, watching in horror as the malnourished thing lashed out at (her... Boyfriend?) Alejandro. The spainiard shoved him harshly, and the creature lost its grip and flew off. For a moment, Heather was relieved.

Then she realized that Ezekiel was tumbling rapidly towards the churning pool of lava... The million dollars still imprisoned in his grasp.

"NO!" She howled, tearing forward in a feeble attempt to regain the money, clutching her ponytail in frustration when the volcano swallowed up the oddly-happy Ezekiel, the million dollars slipping under the flames.

Alejandro approached her, attempting to comfort her with a sting of Spanish; he didn't seem as disheartened at the loss. "When we rule the world, we will have far more than that."

He raised an eyebrow warily at her, and though she have him an exhausted glare, she couldn't help smirking a the peanut gallery, Duncan mimed ramming a finger down his throat, while Gwen snickered.

"Woah... Didn't see that one coming." Chris commented, staring down into the volcano. "Anyhoo... RUN!"

The group of people burst into hysterics and shot away as quickly as possible. Heather tripped over her own feet as she gracelessly stumbled away from the volcano while it began to react wth the pineapple. As lava began to make a searing path that ate away at the rock, the group finally managed to make it off the mountain. While Chris began a rushed epilogue to close the show, the contestants began floundering into the water.

Heather stared uncertainly for a moment- she hated swimming in her clothes- but she forced herself in- it was a choice between getting her clothes wet and being burned alive. The inferno behind them was reflected on the water as they hastily escaped, and finally Chris's boat loomed into view. Bedraggled, the teenagers began climbing up the sides and onto the deck, something which did not please Chris.

"Hey!" He yelled rushing forward. "Stop dripping water all over my deck! I didn't say any of you guys could share my ride..." This was met with a large array of threatening glares; there was no way that even the great (NOT) Chris could take down twenty five ill-treated people who, if he denied them space on his boat, would all have the intent of shoving him into volcani debris-filled water."Fine," He sulked, withdrawing slightly. "You losers can stay. Now Chef, get us the hell outta here!"

The boat gave a violent jerk before speeding away from the now-ravaged island. Heather shoved back a wet chunk of hair from her eyes and stumbled across the moving deck, falling down into a seat on one of the benches aligned at the side of the boat. As if by coincidence, this seat happened to be next to Alejandro, whose face was displaying an abnormal amount of smugness, something Heather felt necessary to question.

"What?" She snapped tiredly.

"Ah, purely the fact that even you could't resist me, Heather." He gloated. "All those times you protested, but now..."

Heather scowled vengefully at him, but some of her usual sheer loathing was absent. She hated him, but she knew that somehow in a stupid, inexplicable way, she had fallen for the jerk. It was more the humiliation of being shown up after all the times she'd adamantly denied it that angered her, especially since Alejandro was so quick to note ... HE had denied it too, and yet he was the one who'd kissed her. And he wasn't getting away with that.

"Uh- you weren't exactly truthful, either." She reminded him loudly. "_Don't flatter yourself_? Remember that?"

The smile left his face for a moment and he rolled his eyes, but put a hand on her shoulder.

"Get off me." She said instantly, but he ignored her. Just for the sake of it, Heather shot a content smile at Courtney, who didn't look particularly pleased at the new union they'd made, especially since Alejandro had rather blatantly flirted with her in Australia and Sweden. However, Heather's smile turned to a frown when a certain up-himself host strode across the deck, drinking some kind of Hawaiian cocktail."Hey!" She yelled across to him.

"Jerk-face! Are we getting our money or WHAT?"

Chris, being the exceedingly stingy man he was (well, stingy when it came to other people and extravagant when it came to himself) decided not to answer when Heather and Alejandro, who he was sure would probably side with her, could have easily tossed him overboard, so instead he beamed at them arrogantly."Nice." He mocked. "I always knew you guys were perfect for each other."  
This was clearly designed to draw a reaction from Heather but, drained of energy and sick of arguing, she shrugged- deciding against leading him on. She was too exhausted even to be snarky any more, and one of the main causes was her intense confusion. Somehow, in the course of one day, she'd won and lost (and would hopefully regain, when Chris paid up) a million dollars, the glory of winning total drama world tour and rubbing it in her enemies' faces, and her worst enemy had made out with her, therefore she'd also won a... Boyfriend? Is that what they were?

Well, his arm was still around her protectively, and he HAD kissed her, but this was... Weird for Heather. She kinda wanted to ask Alejandro what it all meant, but that would have been humiliating.  
Thankfully Owen, who was sitting across from them and practically inhaling a jumbo bag of chips beat her to the punch."Hey, AL." He called across rudely, showering a disgruntled Noah with chip crumbs from his mouth. At the irritating nickname, one of Alejandro's eyes twitched."So, are you and Heather, like, a thing now? Because you were and making out back there, ( at the reminder of this, Noah elbowed Tyler. "Pay up, dude.")but you and Heather always said you hated each other..." He scratched his blonde head. "I'm confused."

Heather suddenly became aware that Owen's question had aroused the attention of every other contestant on the boat, who had all gone silent and were all staring curiously at the pair, waiting for an answer.

"Uh, don't you all have better things to talk about than my private life?" She snapped brusquely. This remark was ignored; the group of somewhat nosy competitors were all curious to see whether or not the two antagonists who'd spent more than half the competition denying any slight attraction could actually be a couple, or if the kiss had been a caught-up-in-the-moment thing.

The problem was, Heather didn't know either.

She knew what _she_ felt, as much as she hated it. She'd spent a long time attempting to curb it. Bit in many respects, Alejandro was a mystery to her. He'd kissed and flattered a bunch of girls, solely to use them, making Heather's trust if dwindle. _But if that was the case, he'd have pushed me aside to get the million, right?_

"I would say that we are." Alejandro responded smoothly, and Heather's lips curled into a triumphant smile despite herself.

"Yeah, whatever." She said lightly. Then, in front of the disgusted people, Alejandro took her face and kissed her again, a little more comfortably this time, his lips curling into hers perfectly. This time, Heather obliged more easily.

"EW!" Chris whined, folding his arms. "There will be NO making out on my boat!"A moment later, on of Heather's shoes sailed through the air and whacked him on the head.

**AN: Ah, end on a cliche kiss. By the way, once again, this is a multichap fic so it's not over. I have a few chapters written so if anyone is actually reading this look out for more. Plus, I want to say this: This will NOT be a typical their-life-after-TDWT type fic. While those are good, they've already been done. I have big plans for this fic, but it doesn't involved anything like Hether getting pregnant, married or cheating on him because, once again, that makes a good plot but it has already been done.**

**BTW: Must read (I know I put this at the top but this is in case you didn't read it) Sorry if there are random word stuff-ups or bad formatting BUT I copied this from a document on my IPad and it completely ruined the formatting, deleted some words randomly and put everything together in a big chunk. So, I had to frantically re-format it and may have missed some stuff.)**


	2. Call me, chica

**AN: I have resolved to post as many chapters of this as possible before series five premieres. And I'm sad to hear that Alejandro's voice actor is different for all stars. :(**

**Thanks to my incredible reviewers so far for the last chapter: malzi21, gypsy Rosalie, jayne'z star, the Guest reviewer, and JuliaAbadeerSkellington. Thanks also to everyone who put this story on favourite and alerts lists. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own total drama**

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**Age details: **

**In this fic, I've assumed that they're about eighteen, and they graduated from high school in september, before TDWT started. Plus the fic starts sometime in early April, because if Cody's birthday was April 1st and they were in Drumheller then, then the finale will have been sometime about April 3rd.**

**Okay: Last chapter- Heather changed her mind about betraying him, and they sort-of-became a couple, but Heather was still confused.**

* * *

The rather uncomfortable boat ride ended when they docked a the same Mexican beach that, a day ago, the remaining three contestants (and a tag-along Sierra) had departed from to race to Hawaii. It was getting late, and despite pleas to stay in a first-class-hotel Chris was eyeing up, the rather exhausted and bored host refused, sending on the contestants. It was this part Heather had always liked about total drama; the amazing moment when it was actually over, and the fleeting relief it brought- the cameras were switched off, and not every moment was spent thinking of the competition and how you'd appear on national television. The group of teenagers boarded a much safer plane than the death trap Chris had forced them on; after spending a good few months on Chris's jet, it felt shockingly clean and comfortable. However, Heather still felt giddily on edge as she climbed into a seat.

She idly watched Geoff and Bridgette in the seats across from her; the way they moved, laughed and acted in an almost synchronized procession. Their relationship was enviably easy; a simple 1+1 combination. However, her mind was reeling; what the _hell_ was going to happen now? Was she even going to see Alejandro again after this? Despite herself, she couldn't envision him not being there. His irksome presence had been there for so long that it would be weird; weird to not have to stay on her toes all the time in case she slipped up and humiliated herself in front of him, weird not to be strategizing ways to defeat him. Stranger still was the fact that her former enemy was sitting casually beside her, reclining smugly in the chair and giving her an occasional cocky smirk that she coudln't help returning with a raised eyebrow. It seemed like a good moment to talk things out- work out where they stood with each other- but neither of them ended up speaking.

Chris McClean and Chef were god knows where- most likely Chris was relaxing in Mexico somewhere for a while, Chef waiting on him hand and foot- so it was an unfamiliar TV executive that directed the cast on and off the plane. The airport had never been so welcome to her as she stumbled off the plane. She felt drained of energy- not just physical, but also mental- but any relief at returning home sunk when she saw her parents waiting for her with false, plastic smiles. Her face sunk into a contemptuous scowl; though they had always been unlikeable, covering up their clear dislike for Heather with false pride and backhanded compliments, since she returned from total drama action they'd been unbearable. Now she intentionally missed her gaze, turning snappily onto the luggage carousel. Her suitcase had yet to come up, and she glared at the slowly revolving belt. Suddenly, for the first time ever, being free of total drama felt... Sad? Now she'd graduated from high school the previous summer, she didn't know what she'd do wth her life; it was too late to enroll in college, and she was looking at a weary stretch of time alone with her parents for another year or so...

Her thoughts staggered to a halt when something was deposited swiftly in her hand. Her head snapped up; Alejandro was standing next to her, looking completely nonchalant as he wated for his own luggage to return, though it was obvious he'd given what she found was a slip of paper to her. She unfolded it curiously, restraining a snort; a phone number had been scrawled down, encircled with a heart. As her luggage finally came into view, Alejandro gave her a wink.

"Call me, _chica_." He ordered her. She rolled her eyes, but blew him a light kiss, sweeping up her luggage and preparing for the inevitable; a reunion with her parents. Currently she loathed the sight of them- her mother with her strange, bouncing hair, and her father with his curiously effeminate looks. As she stomped towards them, resisting the temptation to run back in the other direction, they both shot her fake grins.

"Hi, Heather Feather." Her father told her weakly. "We've missed you so much."

Heather did not return the forced smile; she'd given up trying to be civil to her parents.

"So, Rumour has it you won!" Her mother piped up. Heather's stomach curdled; of course. They'd be all over her- or, rather, the boost to their reputation it would bring- if she won.

"Tied for first place." Heather corrected sourly, eyes trailing towards the rows of cheap blue seats people were waicing to board in; eye contact was a last resort. "But I didn't get the money-"

However, on the word "tied," her parents' faces fell, and the words after that fell onpedal ears. They exchanged a look that oozed disappointment.

"Well, I'm sure you'll win something someday." Her mother said in a patronising tone, the words a clear backhanded compliment. Heather gritted her teeth at the underlying words; _once again, you've let us down_.

But before she could retort and inform her parents why she hadn't come first, she felt someone approach her, and didn't have to guess who. For the first time in her life, she was grateful that Alejandro had butted in.

"I'm sorry, but you didn't grant me a sufficient goodbye." He purred in her ear, and Heather delighted in the shock that hit the faces of her parents. Without any consent, he cupped her chin, and was once again kissing her. Her insides cheered; the timing was too perfect. Her parents, parents who has said in stage-whispers obviously meant for Heather to hear that she "would never get a good boyfriend" and criticised her appearance would be able to see their least-favourite child being kissed passionately by her very real boyfriend, directly in front of them. Part of her was reflexively wanting to slap Alejandro across the face, but she didn't. After enough time he pulled away, tipping her a wink and uttering something in Spanish.

"I will be seeing you soon." He told her, in a mock-threatening tone. She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly at him. It was so hard to believe that two days ago, he was furious at her for betraying him and was all set to push her off a train...

As he retreated, Heather was pleased to acknowledge the gaping looks on her mother and father's faces.

"Heather!" Her mother gasped, looking flustered. "Who was that?"

Heather folded her arms across her halter-top, grey eyes radiating smugness.

"Alejandro." She said lightly, as though it was obvious; this was too fun to torment her parents. "Uh- didn't you know? He's my boyfriend."

* * *

"...so surprised, though." Her mother continued to babble as she pushed the white-glazed door open, revealing the achingly familiar house. Heather grimaced, repressing the urge to childishly stick her fingers in her ears.

_Half an hour. She's been putting me down for HALF AN HOUR._

"I mean- not that you're ugly or anything, darling, but Anna's the one who usually gets boys like that."

Heather's eyes narrowed, but she shouldn't have expected any less. Her parents always had to find an excuse to put Heather down while glorifying her elder sister Anna, a girl who reminded Heather sickeningly of Courtney mixed with herself. As a child, she'd taken every word to heart painfully, but as she'd grown she'd developed a harsh outer layer.

Her expected triumph at shocking her parents with the revelation of Alejandro had turned into some form of punishment; they'd spent the last half hour picking her to pieces. She tried her hardest to ignore what they were saying as she stomped into the house; the dull green walls and pristine furniture had never seemed so plain and unwelcome. She didn't stop and listen to more useless, condesceding talk (her parents were now discussing whether or not Alejandro was gay, to Heather's fury); instead, she lugged her suitcase up the stairs. There was no sign of either of her siblings, which was a relief; her brother was a terror, while her sister... She shuddered at the memory, pushing open the door to her room.

Mercifully, her furniture was still there, unlike the time she'd returned from total drama island (seriously, who sells a girl's bed when she'd only left temporarily?). Her room looked mostly unchanged since she'd left it; the huge collection of wigs she'd purchased before her hair finally began to grow back and she got extensions was still left on her desk, the books on her bookshelf were still present, and her white cat bruiser (looking worryingly underfed) was curled up lazily on her bed. She clicked her fingers at him and he rubbed her hand appreciatively.

"At least you're happy to see me." She muttered sourly, petting him on the head as she flopped down on her bed.

Home didn't seem thrilling now.

During total drama, she'd longed to return somewhere safe, clean and secure. And, though she was disappointed not to win, after the first two seasons she'd been relieved to be back in an environment free of grime and bugs. But now- now she felt let down. There was so little to gain here, and she didn't have the power she had in the game- she couldn't intimidate people the way she'd been able to during the competition. She'd never had any power over her parents or siblings, despite what people thought, let alone connected with them. Even her mother, who she'd once actually liked, had become stuck up and condescending towards her. Their personalities clashed shockingly; she had no one-

Except, Heather corrected herself, she did have someone. Someone as devious and manipulative as her... She unfolded the number Alejandro had given her triumphantly, smirking. Heck, he was an arrogant jerk, but at least he seemed to care about her...

* * *

"Al?"

Alejandro's eye twitched of his own accord, but he forced the words that were boiling up in his throat back down. To "welcome his brother back", Josè had returned home from college for the weekend, and while his parents- particularly his father, who had always held a soft spot for Josè- thought it was sweet of him, Alejandro knew that t was purely to aggravate him. The middle Burromuerto son had been regaling his brother with disgustingly accurate impressions of Owen, who he had taken a liking to in the show purely because he irritated Alejandro. Alejandro was beginning to feelthe urge to rip Josè's stupid smug head off, but he tried to repress it- it would only egg Josè on more.

"Al," Josè repeated firmly, reaching out and roughly punching his brther's arm. Alejandro unwillingly addressed him.

"What?" He snapped venomously, sliding as far away from him on the leather couch as possible. He would have left the room, but there was no use; from the particularly malicious glint in Josè's brown eyes (he had inherited his father's eyes, unlike Alejandro who bore the same green eyes as his mother) he knew that he would have followed him anyway.

"Did you really give up a million dollars for a whore?" He hissed, Alejandro flinching at the word.

The moment Alejandro had been left alone with his nightmare sibling, Josè had latched onto Heather; with the minimal difference in time between when the show was filmed and when it aired, it was currently up to their time in Australia, and Josè had seen enough of the show to know about Heather's personality. He'd been ceaselessly calling her a slut and a whore, assuring Alejandro she was likely to ditch him as soon as possible. He, of course, did not approve of Alejandro's relationship; women to him were nothing other than bodies, and hearing about Alejandro's romantic confession nearly killed him with joy-yet another thing to aggravate his brother about; he'd taken to calling him lovebird every chance he got, and had begun to make as many digs at Heather as possible.

"Anyway, she must be easy." He decided in a matter-of-fact tone. "Otherwise, why wouldhShe date you? Little -CENSORED- must be desperate-"

"_Shut up!_" Alejandro snarled, snatching Josè's shirt collar violently. "_Do not insult Heather, you filthy, incompetent little -CENSORED!-_"

"Alejandro!" A feminine voice cautioned. Alejandro cringed, dropping his disgustingly smug brother. His mother stood in the doorway, a look of shock on her cinammon-skinned face. Naturally, she'd walked in on her sons the moment Alejandro had retaliated, and was therefore oblivious to Josè's earlier abuse. Josè shot her a look of thickly feigned innocence, and she sighed.

"He started it, Mama!" Alejandro snapped indignantly, the childish phrase sounding embarrassing once it left his mouth. His mother sighed as she breezed across the room, sitting down in the seat across from her children and giving them bth a stern look. Deep down, she knew that Josè bullied her youngest, and her maternal nature screamed out to defend him. Alejandro was- and always had been- her favourite child, yet she knew her husband favored the two eldest sons, and her peaceful nature forebode her to step in; if she properly disciplined Josè, he would automatically whine to his father, who would give his wife another boys-will-be-boys lecture.

"That may be," She responded belatedly, shooting Josè a slightly suspicious glance, "But it's rude to speak like that. Remember, I raised a gentlemen."

Alejandro scowled at his brother, whose face was reminiscent of a child who had just gotten away with stealing out the cookie jar. He had a good find to tell his mother the far more severe ways Josè had been describing Heather all afternoon, but knew better; instead, he stalked angrily out the room. As he passed through the hall, the state-of-the-art phone caught his eye, reminding him that he'd given Heather his number. Obviously it was unlikely that she'd phone him th day he'd given her his number, but a thought struck him; what if she never called? After all, she was Heather- stubborn and reluctant to show any affection to anyone. It seemed dubious that she would want to appear eager and phone him... He wished he'd pestered her for her number. However, there was still a way to get her number, which a quick check on the Internet confirmed; a certain purple-haired superfan whose name began with "S" and ended with "Ierra" had inexplicably acquired the phone numbers of everyone in the cast on her eleventh total drama blog (Cody's was surrounded with flashing heart emoticons). He quickly scrawled down the one listed for Heather (Sierra, on her blog, had typed in "Feel free to send hate-mail and prank call" above Heather's name), stopping for just a moment to contemplate how stalkerish it seemed; looking her up on the internet wasn't exactly his style.

Still- he had her number now. And- though he obviously wouldn't call her that exact day- he had a link back to Heather.

* * *

**Wow, this chapter was REALLY uneventful. Still, I kinda needed the filler in there before interesting stuff happens. And ugh, I hated writing Josè, because they really don't say much abouthim (except that he's an even bigger jerk than Alejandro and torments him all the time) in TDWT. Josè is NOT going to play a major part in my fic, he may crop up or be mentioned from time to time but he's not gonna be major, because he just isn't important to the plot I have planned for this fic.**

**Um, I apologise for any random typos in this, but it was on my IPad, which autocorrects weirdly all the time. (Seriously, it autocorrected Alejandro into Alepepperoni one time. How does that even work?)**

**I promise to try and update sooner with the next chapter, guys. I kinda wanted to update this every week, but stuff keels getting in my way.**


	3. An unusual first date

**Well, here it is! Fiiiinally.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Jayne'z star, who is an incredible reviewer of mine who has been really supportive of my fics, go check out her fics guys. I also want to personally thank every one of you who has reviewed either chapter of my fic so far: D0ll, gypsy rosalie, Jayne'z star, JuliaAbadeerSkellington, Malzi21 and the anonymous guest reviewer. Thanks so much!**

**Once again, two things I need to remind you:**

**One, I (sadly) do not own the rights to Total Drama.**

**Two, I typed this n my IPad which likes to autocorrect randomly in weird abnormal ways. Therefore, there will be mistakes in it occassionally, so I apologise in advance.**

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** Age Details: I've assumed they're about eighteen, and have graduated from high school the summer before TDWT, and because of the show cropping up they have had to take a gap year and will be enrolling in college next year.**

**Last chapter: After an exhausting finale, the two returned home and received less-than-enthusiastic welcomes from their families; Heather's parents demonstrated how uncaring they were, while Josè tried his hardest to piss Alejandro off, crossing the line when he began to insult Heather. Alejandro gave Heather his number, but worried she'd be too stubborn to call went and found her number on Sierra's blog and decided to call soon.**

* * *

Heather was beginning to question what had happened to her life. The whole experience was so... fresh and unusal to her; so _different. _She'd never really been in a relationship with someone, and never in a million years would have expected it to be Alejandro; Alejandro, who'd put on the façade only she'd (and, for a minuscule amount of time Noah) been able to properly see through, disgusting his true evil nature.

Part of her was still mentally attacking herself and her decision; Why had she let emotions get in the way- _why_ had she fallen, like a brainless tween, for someone she hated?

Yet, despite the negative thoughts, this felt... Right. Seeing him feign affection for Bridgette, LeShawna and especially Courtney had looked off, as though something didn't fit, though she would have never admitted it. And, though she hated to agree with Chris, it did seem like they were... Made for each other? She shuddered at the gushy sentence.

For the first week or so, nothing had been majorly different. Yet, on the inside, a whole world had been unlocked; it was just weird waking up in the morning and knowing that she had a boyfriend...

She was in the shower when her cell phone rang the first time. While she would usually tell whatever loser it was to go away, the prospect- although, it seemed unlikely, since she didn't know he had her number- of Alejandro phoning cropped up in her head and she ripped a towel from the rack to wrap around herself, sprinting towards her room and scrambling in her purse for the phone.

"Yeah?"

_Please be him... No, please DON'T... no, please do..._

"Oh MY GOD, is that Heather?" A completely unfamiliar voice squawked from the other end, and Heather's lip curled in disdain.

"Hey, I am-like- your HUGEST fan!" Whoever-it-was squealed. Heather cringed; she should have known that there would be the inevitable fan calls, but still...

"I am SOOOOOO looking forward to the day TDWT finale is televised- I'm Jenna, by the way- Can you tell me some spoilers? I'm your hugest fan!"

"Uh- you said that." Heather snapped dryly. "Look, can you-"

"I love writing fanfiction," The girl babbled obliviously. "I'm in the middle of writing one where you're pregnant, and you don't know if Chef or Mr Coconut is the father, and it turns out to be an intern who is actually gay, and you're all depressed because you're pregnant so -"

With a small scoff, Heather hung up abruptly and rudely; she was in no fit mood to be interrupted on the shower with a petty call. Dropping her phone onto her desk, she stomped back to continue showering when her phone chirped again. The queen bee cursed angrily, snatching up her phone.

"Look, I'm TRYING to shower," She snarled down into the reciever. " I'm not listening to your stupid fan questions, I'm not giving any spolilers away, and I'm NOT pregnant-"

"Well, that's good to know, Heather."

Heather gave a loud shriek, dropping the phone in shock.

"Aw, Cr*p." She growled at he irritating clichè. Her eyes narrowed, and she picked her tiny cell phone back up again.

"You're not pregnant, are you, _querido_?" Alejandro snickered from the other end. Heather gave a hiss of irritation through her teeth.

"I got a really stupid fan call like, two seconds ago. Anyway, how did you get this number?" She sniffed abruptly.

"Sierra's blog," Alejandro responded nonchalantly, and Heather's fists clenched.

"Ugh, I don't even want to know how she go my number!" The phone threatened to slip out her wet hand, and she wedged it between her head and shoulder as she quickly wiped the soap suds off her hands. "So, what do _you_ want?"

As the phrase left her mouth, she winced slightly at how abrupt and cold it had sounded, despite herself. Still, Alejandro chuckled at her furious tone.

"I hear you were in the shower-such a shame I could not be there to help you scrub your back."

Heather hotly uttered a profanity, cheeks reddening. Alejandro tutted from the other end, and she could almost see his smirk.

"Such language." He clicked his tongue, chastising her. " I would never dream of using language like that."

Heather rolled her eyes; she remembered, all too well, hearing him snarling things in Spanish that she was sure would be censored out when the show was televised.

"Yes, you do!" she accused fiercely.

"Well, yes." Alejandro admitted, and she envisioned him shrugging. "But those are in Spanish."

Despite her outward scowl, Heather was biting back a smile; she had- deep down- missed mock-arguing with Alejandro.

"And that makes it better... How?" She scoffed, inspecting a nail; it had been ages since she'd had the luxury of a professional manicure, and she resolved to get her nails sorted out as soon as possible.

"Because I say so," Alejandro responded swiftly, without missing a beat.

_What a Jerk... Dang, I like this stupid guy... NO! Ugh... _Heather still felt the mental reflex she'd developed during the show to hide her feelings for Alejandro.

"Whatever," She snorted. "And does this phone call actually have a point, or did you just think I'd gone long enough without being irritated?"

From where he leaned casually in the Burromuerto household, Alejandro's lips curled into a smile.

"Maybe I just want to her _mi chica's_ beautiful voice."

"And maybe," Heather suggested snarkily, though once again her mouth threatened to smile and she was extremely grateful that Alejandro couldn't see her- he would have teased her to no end about it. "Maybe you could just tell me why you phoned?"

Alejandro inhaled deeply, disgusted with the fact that he felt nervous. "I was wondering... On the eighth, since my parents will be gone and my brother will be back at college-" He shuddered at the mental rendition of Josè ever meeting Heather. "I was wondering if you would do the honour of accompanying me-"

Heather cut through what she knew would have been a heavily embellished speech. "You're asking me out."

Despite her nonchalant tone, she was feeling pleased inside. There was a pause, in which Alejandro made a disgruntled noise at being interrupted.

"A rather dull term to use, but... Yes."

A grin burst across Heather's face, despite herself. "Oh, if I must." She sniffed, feigning a lack of enthusiasm, though Alejandro could sense her pleasure anyway. Heather sought out a loose scrap of paper and pen, holding her cell uncomfortably to her ear as she scrawled down the address Alejandeo recited to her. She marked the eighth on the usually obscelete calendar that hung on her wall.

"Until then," Alejandro concluded, after she'd written it down. " Goodbye, _mi amiguita hermosa_."

"Hey- what does that mean?" Heather objected. However, she heard Alejandro laughing faintly as the phone disconnected with a click.

It took two seconds for it to sink in, then it finally hit Heather; she was going on a _date_ with Alejandro.

She would have done a private victory dance, except that seemed a little Katie and Sadie-esque.

* * *

When Heather had finished her shower and carefully dried her hair, tying it back into her preferred ponytail, she heard her parents knocking on the door to her room. She grimaced; her parents only made direct contact when they had to or were planning on putting her down. With a sigh, she opened the door begrudgingly.

"What?"

Her mother gave a false smile, and despite Heather's usual hostility to her parents the teenage girl felt a slight pang- there had been a time when her mother had connected with her more than any living person, but over the past year that had somehow slipped away. Now, she scowled at the woman in front of her.

"I just thought we'd let you know that Anna was coming later this week, and she's really looking forward to seeing you."

_Anna_.

It was all Heather could do not to curse in front of her parents and get a condescending lecture about language. Anna, her "perfect" sister. The kind of girl who dealt shameless backhanded complements like "It's alright, some guys like fat girls!"; a shameless flirt whose clothing and copious amounts of make up attracted any males within a ten mile radius like a siren call. She shuddered at the idea of Anna coming, body tensing visibly.

"When's she coming?"

If it was the eighth, then Heather's life would be over; there was no way that her parents, no matter how uncaring they were, would let her miss Anna coming over; they liked to put on a perfect, united family façade to the rest of their social-climber friends. Heather felt her hand tense around the lattè colored wood of her door, and she felt that if her parents said the eighth, then her hand would clench enough to snap the wood. However, relief spread through her when her mother informed her that her nightmarish sister was coming on the tenth, meaning she was still free on the eighth to see Alejandro.

"She says she's really excited about seeing you," Her mother repeated, and Heather's nose wrinkled at the prospect; there was no way her gorgon of a sister wanted to see Heather for any reason other than to put her down and offend her. She'd probably heard about Alejandro by now- Anna liked watching total drama for the sick purpose of seeing Heather humiliated on television- and would spend the whole time probing her or, in an obscenely worse possibility, she would try to steal Alejandro.

"So, is that it?" She snapped, voice harsh; the idea of Anna coming had deflated the good mood Alejandro's call had put her in. Her mother nodded, her thick hair bouncing as she withdrew. Heather sighed, before slumping down on the bed. She was irritated, now, her earlier happiness gone. Her sister, despite being seen as some form of perfect angel, was even worse than Heather herself, and she didn't relish the idea of seeing her again, no matter how short the stay was. Still... The address she'd scribbled down caught her eye from where she'd put it on her desk, and she rolled her eyes. In three days, she would be having some form of... _Date_ with Alejandro. The idea seemed ridiculous to her in some ways, but alluring in others. She wondered what he was going to do- most likely pull some ridiculous stunt to impress her, but she just had to wait and see...

* * *

"You have GOTto be joking."

The queen bee scoffed, checking and re-checking the address she'd been given before snorting. While Alejandro had seemed undoubtedly like some form of a rich guy, she hadn't expected the exaggerated splendor of the house in front of her. The Burromuerto household was ridiculous in its luxury; it dominated the houses around it, three stories tall like an off-white Beacon shouting "LOOK AT ME!"

In many ways, it fit Alejandro.

After a few exhausting days of nothing, Heather had been awoken at five am by a text from Alejandro, reminding her of their plans for the day. He continued to repeat details in case she forgot until finally, four texts later and several failed attempts to get back to sleep, Heather threatened to block him unless he shut up. She took the car her parents had bought her the past Christmas (an emotionless, get-heather-out-the-way present that had nothing to do with any true tenderness) around to the neighborhood she'd been informed of; it _had_ to be the most expensive place she'd ever heard of. The street she lived in was prestigious enough, but this one she'd travelled a half hour to get to reeked of Old Money, European Heritage and antique manors that were built in the days before cars didn't exist. The houses's burnished gold nameplate, fixed to the large, whitewashed wall that surrounded it, informed Heather that she was visiting the _Residencia Burromuerto, _while a carefully cultivated garden awaited her. She felt awkward and uncertain as her shoes clicked across the overtly long path leading to the enormous, polished double-doors; she felt a little out of place.

Heather gingerly pressed the doorbell, but before the loud melody could begin to play, the doors were swung open and the queen bee found herself half-yanked inside and intAsa seemingly delighted Alejandro's grip.

"Heather!" He greeted her warmly. "It has been months since I last saw your face-"

Heather raised an eyebrow. "Uh-it's been less than a week."

Amusement tinging Alejandro's smirk, he shrugged. "Months, a week... It felt that long."

Heather rolled her eyes with a staged air of disdain, but inside she was repressing a blush. She had, really, missed Alejandro, though she wold never admit it; throughout total drama, she'd gotten used to his constant presence, so over the past few days, it had been weird being able to say things without him making an instant follow-up remark designed to aggravate her as much as possible.

After an obligatory kiss that Heather enjoyed more than she knew she should, she followed Alejandro's lead down a ridiculously long entrance hall filled with huge and egotistical photos: a majority displayed an arrogant-faced man who Heather guessed to be Josè. They passed through an extravagant main room that looked almost like a ballroom, huge arch windows dominating the wall, sending rays of light across the tiled floor and onto the huge, winding staircases on either side of the expansive area; Heather couldn't help looking around and attempting not to let herself look too impressed. Finally, the pair wound up in a sunny, lavish sitting room. Alejandro sank casually into the couch, and Heather, feeling awkward in the unfamiliar setting, followed suit. However, despite her vigorous protests, he swept her up like she weighed nothing and deposited her on his lap, smirking.

"This is stupid," Heather muttered, but Alejandro just pulled her closer to his chest.

"Ah, you love it." He dismissed. Heather tutted slightly, her eyes traveling across the room before lingering on a huge family portrait, framed extravagantly and hanging across from her. She was surprised to observe that while Alejandro's physique matched his father's, his features predominantly echoed his mother's; the stunning Spanish woman has passed her skin tone, chocolate hair color and striking green eyes too her youngest son. Alejandro's "diplomat" father bore darker hair, skin and brown eyes- traits which had been passed on to who Heatger presumed was the middle child, Josè. The eldest (Carlos, Heather recalled, from some bragging comment Alejandro had made in Africa) was a fair mix of his parents' genes, though some small traits still reflected Josè more than Alejandro.

As Heatger observed the image with mild curiosity, she felt an odd sensation that told her Alejandro was staring at her.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. He responded by reaching over and stroking her face, as he had done in the cargo deck weeks before, when the chill from Sweden was still lingering in the plane. It was a weird for him as it was for Heather; he'd had girls come and go, yet they'd been pawns, or trophies. He'd never really car es for a girl, and it had been excruciating for the self-absorbed side of him when he found himself falling for Heather, and loving someone even more than he loved himself. He would have never even let himself envision that now, she'd be sitting in his living room, acting disdainful yet hiding a smile as he held her on his lap.

Still, he wasn't objecting.

Finally, Heather spoke loudly, breaking the weird, quiet spell that had fallen.

"So, uh... Is there any point in this escapade, or are you just going to keep me on your lap all day?"

Alejandro smirked. "Well, as nice as that would be, _preciosa_, I do have something planned..."

* * *

"Okay, this is RIDICULOUS." Heather scoffed.

"Isn't it, just?" Alejandro said with satisfaction, taking Heather's arm and pulling her to his side. Unlike the sort of... Outings (the word **date** was too cheesy for Heather's tastes) she'd heard of that usually involved eating greasy hamburgers before watching a gore-filled or disgustingly typical romantic movie, she had somehow ended up in a... _Yacht_. (Typically extravagant Alejandro. ) It would have been nice, except...

"I didn't mean that in a good way." Heather corrected darkly, shifting away from him slightly. She gave a disdainful glance to the over-the-top decor that she would have thought even Alejandro would have disliked; piles of sickly-pink roses sculpted into hearts covered a majority of the deck, and was abundant enough to make Heather's stomach writhe with hatred. She sensed that Alejandro had gone more than a little overboard (to say the least) in trying to impress her.

"But... Isn't this romantic?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Heather, but the look on her face silenced him.

"Um, maybe a tenth of this cr p would be." She waved a hand dramatically at the whole ridiculous ensemble; it reminded he of a valentine's card, regurgitated. Sure, the idea of going on a yacht was romantic; and roses in moderation would have been okay, but Heather was surprised there were any flowers left in the world after Alejandro's ridiculous, "romantic" idea. A ripple of annoyance crossed Alejandro's face, and he rolled his eyes.

"But Heather- this is such a picturesque setting..."

Heather glanced out across the sheet of water (they hadn't actually left the dock yet).

"Okay," She snipped, resigned. "So, this was a gesture, even if it was really messed up."

Alejandro clicked his tongue. "Always the cynic," He interjected.

"But, if you think this is super charming..." Heather trailed off, turning away to hide her expression. Alejandro made a mildly offended noise.

"I do not usually go to such lengths..."

This was true; usually, when Alejandro was charming a girl, he went for the simple, romantic approach. And yet, Heather was so frosty that idiotic thought it would take a lot before she was won over- he was disappointed in himself for that logic; he should have known better... Really, though he didn't like to admit it, his idea was stupid.

"Of course," Heather threw in lightly, smiling evilly to herself. "I might be willing to forget your disgusting attempt at wooing me if you admit you screwed up."

Alejandro glared at her; if there was one thing- besides Josè, Owen and being called Al- that he hated, then it was humbling himself. Heather looked all too self-satisfied at her impasse, ponytail whipping slightly in the minute breeze as she stared expectantly at him. However, his face relaxed into a smile that Heather instantly found suspicious.

"Whatever you say." He Responded carefully. Heather's eyebrow immediately shot up, and she scrutinized him; there was no way Alejandro would back down, especially when he had a rather devious glint in his eyes...

"But?" She added testily. He snickered slightly.

"I will admit that I-" He shuddered at the poisonous words. "Screwed up... If you-tell me you love me."

There was no way Heather would ever admit anything like that; her face reddened with fury (and embarrassment) at the comment.

"NO." Heather responded indignantly, swinging her head around so briskly that her ponytail smacked Alejandro in the face like a whip.

"Isn't it worth the satisfaction of hearing me say I... Screwed up?" Alejandro offered Heather tauntingly, though he shuddered somewhat at the last two words of his sentence. Heather just sniffed, turning her nose up in the air.

"Ah, well," He told her loudly, " I already know you love me, anyway."

Heather did her best to ignore him, no matter how aggravating his comments. Alejandro shot the girl a devious look, wondering how far he'd be able to push her before she responded.

"It was obvious, right from the beginning." He continued. Heather shifted a little, tongue burning with an angry comeback, but she did nothing.

"You were always so obvious about it," he drew out dramatically, leaning in to her just to annoy her even more. "You're just not a good actress, Heather."

The girl scowled deeply, her resolve to ignore his taunts wavering.

_Don't respond, he wants to wind you up..._

Alejandro decided to kick his teasing up a notch. "And when you and I get married..."

"WHAT?" Heather yelled, finally turning around to glare at Alejandro. "I didn't agree to that!"

Alejandro gave her an incredibly smug smile. "Ah, so you ARE talking to me again, _señiorita_."

Heather let out a frustrated whine, rounding on the Latino with an aggravated glower.

"Why do you think it's so fun to annoy me all the time?" She accused testily. Alejandro shrugged, eyes still glittering.

"Your reactions are cute."

Heather's grey eyes threatened to bug out with rage for a split second, and she looked down quickly to hide a blush. Alejandro laughed to himself for a moment, before pulling Heather back to his side.

"Relax, Heather. I know you love it, anyway."

"Uh- no, I don't!" She corrected instantly. Alejandro leaned in, raising an eyebrow with a cleasly disbelieving smirk.

"I don't know how you can think... That's stupid... You're so..." Heather spluttered, looking away sharply once more; she could feel her cheeks heating up. It annoyed her; she'd never, ever blushed until she met Alejandro.

"I'm so handsome?" Alejandro finished for her.

"Arrogant." Heather corrected, leaning over the rail of the yacht and scowling into the water below. "And, are we going to stay on this stupid valentines' day knockoff all day or what?"

The arrogant Latino gave a shrug of indifference, keeping his arm firmly around Heather's shoulders.

"We will do whatever you want to do, _preciosa_. I must admit, the yacht was not my brightest idea. I'll do what you say." He promised, swinging a startled Heather around so she was leaning close into his chest. Somehow, she just _fit_ there, to him; it was stupid, but it just felt... Right having her there. On instinct- it was hard to shake off the patterns she'd fallen into during the competition- Heather struggled to pull out the embrace and gain some independance but Alejandro stared at her wordlessly, the expression on his face telling her he wouldn't give in until finally Heather surrended, allowing him to hold her in an embrace.

"That's more like it." He said with satisfaction, rubbing her back slightly.

"I hate you." Heather responded weakly. Alejandro just smiled to himself; they both knew it had been months since she fully meant those words.

"I love you too, _chica_." he teased her.

"Whatever." Heather muttered, trying to retain as cynical as possible. Sure, this was reasonably romantic, and even if he was just taunting her, Alejandro had just said he loved her. Still, even if his comment had been genuine (which, she knew deep down that it was) she couldn't find the ability to say the words back to him. She loved him herself, but she also hated him for it. Letting herself get carried away with the romantic moment- letting him kiss her and hold her without throwing in a falsely despondent comment- felt like wading in too deep. Within her, the insecurity that he would just ditch her, no matter how irrational, still lingered, and she couldn't let herself take the chance until she was fully sure that he loved her back.

* * *

**Kinda a long chapter, what did you think? So, Heather's still kinda doubtful, they had a (somewhat failed date) that took place of a yacht Alejandro had over-decorated, and Heather's sister is coming to visit her.**

**Next chapter spoilers: Heather gets a meet from her sister, the dreaded Anna. Both Alejandro and Heather have trouble coping with their newfound fame I'm society, and Sierra invites the cast for a reunion that has rather unexpected results.**

**I really want to write an Aleheather one shot for Easter, but I may not have time. And when my exams are over, I have a new Aleheather multichap I want to publish as well. If I don't post anything between now and Easter, have a great holiday and God Bless.**


	4. Pool parties aren't my thing

**You know the drills:**

**1. I don't own Total drama, and I probably never will own total drama.**

**2. I have typed this on my IPad. Stupid typos and weird autocorrects are therefore unavoidable.**

**A shout out to everyone who has review this fic so far: Jayne'z star, JuliaAbadeerSkellignton, gypsy rosalie, the anonymous guest reviewer, cascada1007, D0ll and malzi21. Thanks, guys!**

**I feel bad for not updating this in a while... I have not abandoned this fic! It is currently my top prioirty, and I know I've started a few new ones but this is at the top of my list right now. (This and "Superiority"). **

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** Age details (yes, I am putting this in every chapter as a reminder): In this fic, I'm assuming they're about eighteen and have graduated from high school the summer before TDWT debuted. Since they were roped in for TDWT at the start of the year, they have had to take a gap year between high school and college, and therefore will be starting college next year.**

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**Last chapter: Heather was informed that she would be getting a visit from her not-so-beloved sister soon, and she went on her first official date with Alejandro, which turned out to be a bit of a fail, because he tried a little too hard to make it romantic.**

* * *

She hated admitting it, but Heather really did find satisfaction in being around Alejandro, and since their rather weird first date he'd somehow become an important piece or her life. It still slightly sickened her- the idea that she'd become one ofthese romantic losers she'd always scorned- so she tried to maintain a cool and indifferent attitude.

Tried, and somewhat failed.

It was hard to act indifferent when her worst enemy- who she'd had a secret crush on since Egypt and _really_ liked since Paris- was doting on her, and occassionally making out with her. Alejandro was finding this strange, as well, but he loved every minute he was with Heather; while he had been in love with her for a long time, the moment she unintentionally admitted she loved him too had caused a minor change in him; while he was still his devious, egotistical self, he had somehow grown more of a heart than he has before. Heather was the only girl he felt he could ever love, and had become the centre of his world, a key part of his life.

Since the two had graduated from high school and total drama had interfered irritatingly with any college plans, they'd had to take an unplanned gap year, which left them with a lot of time on their hands. Heather was relieved that she didn't have to go to college just yet- but only because she wanted the time to kick back and relax after the show, she reminded herself stubbornly, and very definitely _not_ because she wanted to spend time with Alejandro...

Still, with a boyfriend, a heap of R&R time on her hands and having recently graduated high school, Heather found herself slipping into a new era of life, and was actually enjoying it...

However, there were snags.

No matter how hard she tried, Total Drama kept coming back to haunt her. Going for a mani-pedi, the manicurist (who sported a disgusting Chris McLean T-Shirt) practically fainted when she saw "_the_ Heather", accidentally painting the queen bee's toes a hideous shade of neon orange and spending most of the session trying to weasel gossip and spoilers from Heather, who wanted to punch her in the face by the end. It was extremely humiliating for Heather when the finale inevitably aired, showing the world that her and Alejandro were a couple; the picture of them kissing was slapped on the cover of every TV guide in the country. Preteen fans rushed up to have their pictures taken with "This year's hottest reality TV couple!", as they were labelled, while some who were against the two antagonists were rude and insulting.

The worst occassion was when Heather had been bombarded with a load of raw and supiciously smelly eggs by a seemingly deranged fan, who yelled out "Cody rules!" multiple times as they pelted a shrieking Heather with egg. What added insult to injury was that Alejandro was with her at the time- though he managed to remain egg free- and began laughing.

"SHUT. UP." Heather snarled, wiping egg yolk out her eyes, completely revolted. "You could get egged too- I know where you live, remember?"

"Ah- do you know just how sexy it is when you threaten me?"

Heather slumped down on a bench, attempting to peel fragments of eggshells off her skin; her arms were likely to bruise from the impact of some of the eggs. "Ugh, I do NOT need to be annoyed right now, OK?" She scowled at the spainiard, before muttering a dry "Ew," at the gunk in her hair.

"Of course not," Alejandro told her, with clearly feigned pity. "But do you know... Egg is really your colour!"

Heather slapped him rather violently in the arm.

"This is REALLY getting out of hand." She snapped, throwing up her hands in frustration. "The fan mail, the exposure... I thought it would be cool to be famous, but this sucks." With a sigh and a toss of her hair(which was still slightly congealed with egg) she drummed up her old excuse. "Well, I guess those losers are just jealous."

"Yes," Alejandro parodied her sigh, earning himself another glare. "Jealous of your amazing, talented, extremely handsome boyfriend..."

Heather gave him an icy glare to tell him he was pushing it, before inspecting her clothing sulkily.

"I need to get this filthy egg of somehow." she muttered, staring in disgust at the sticky gloop and small shards of eggshell that clung to her skin. It wasn't like she could drive home like that, but since she was currently at a large outdoors mall- where she was _supposed_ to be enjoying a day of retail therapy before the attack of the eggs- there had to be at least a sink...

Alejandro had been sorely tempted to teasingly offer to scrub her back for her, but he remained silent as Heather sought out a way to clean rotten egg from her skin; despite his arrogance, he could tell it might be going a little too far this time.

* * *

Heather didn't really catch a break that week, as on the tenth her not so-beloved sister Anna returned from college. Heather stayed up in her room most of the time, glowering out the window as her parents gave their favourite child a warm welcome; they acted as though they hadn't seen her in years even though they phoned Anna every day and saw her every other weekend, but when Heather was out risking her life daily for a few months to win a million dollars they didn't even care...

She holed up in her room for as long as she could, and was almost tempted to childishly order take-out to her bedroom or convince Alejandro to somehow deliver food to her. However, when her parents had gone out to the grocery store, Heather assumed Anna must have gone too, and slunk downstairs to get something to eat. To her irritation, the TV was blaring loudly, sending flickering lights across the darkened living room, and she could see Anna's silhouette. Slowly, she attemptEd to slide past without an encounter, but her sister's lips curled into a false smile.

"Well," she called out; obviously, she had no intention of leaving her sister alone. "Aren't you going to say hello to your _favourite_ sister?"

Heather cringed, ducking her head around into the room. As she had expected, Anna had draped herself lavishly across the couch, showing as much of herlegs off as possible. She looked exceedingly like her sister, something Heather resented; they had the same hair, slender build, skin and eye tones, though minute differences- the most notable of them being their preferred attire- set them apart. Anna wore her hair long, like Heather once had, but whenever she visited her parents she would pull it back into a braid to "toy with", and therefore look innocent. However, Heather could never understand how Anna could pull off the innocent card with such ease, considering the attire she preferred showed off great expanses of her legs and clung to her like skin. While Heather's usual outfits did admittedly reveal quite a lot of skin, Anna's were somehow worse than a skimpy hater top, the low cut of her dresses and shameless shades of red an intentional eye-catcher for every guy she passed.

"What do you want?" Heather snarled rudely in her direction; she hated the idea of engaging in conversation with her sister. While Anna's eyes failed to move from the TV screen, she let out a scoff.

"Just to say hello to my _darling_ baby sister," The false sugar in Anna's voice made Heather's skin crawl, and she shuddered involuntarily. Anna turned around, giving her a grin tinged with malice; she indicated her head towards the TV. "Quite a performance, huh?"

For the first time, Heather noticed what Anna had been watching so intently, and her hands balled into tight fists; she was horrified to see that Anna was watching the only recently aired finale of Total Drama. The episode was drawing to a close, but Anna's timing was excellent; on the screen, Heather's lips had just collided with Alejandro's.

"So..." Anna's eyes raked critically over Heather's, and the queen bee could tell she was searching for flaws to point out. They settled on Heather's ponytail, which she touched self-consciously.

"I see you got rid of the pixie cut, then?"

Heather blew out a gust of air from her pursed lips, recalling the uncomfortable short hairstyle she'd sported the last time she saw her sister- it was just before she'd had extensions implanted in it.

"Look, what do you want?" Heather repeated her earlier question, glowering at Anna's shadowed form.

The older girl raised her perfectly cultured eyebrows, glancing back at the television.

"Nothing. I'm just so HAPPY that my little sis _finally_ has a boyfriend." Her reptilian smile widened a little. "Let me just ask you something... How many boyfriends did he have before you?"

Heather's teeth snapped together; she hated the way her sister maneuvered her words, so that at first it seemed as though she was merely being conversational, but she would begin to work fluent insults into the conversation.

"Don't worry," The girl continued, sighing with mock pity for her sister as she sunk down into the couch. The TV still pounded away, but neither paid it any attention.

"It's probably just a publicity relationship that'll blow over."

_Shut the -censored- up, you stupid bitch..._ Heather wanted to rip Anna's windpipe out at this moment, but she tried to remain calm. However, Anna continued to twist the knife in, tossing her long braid over her shoulder as she spoke.

"I'm _sorry_ for you, Heather. You just have to throw yourself at the first guy who pays you attention, don't you?"

_Hypocrite_... Heather's lip curled. She remembered taunting Alejandro when he snapped about Josè but really, she was just as bad around Anna...

"Such a shame, really." Anna pulled out the card she knew would offend Heather the most. "You just keep letting everyone down, don't you?"

"SHUT. UP!" Heather snarled, finally snapping. She lunged for her sister, whose face displayed satisfaction, however as the door opened it turned to a look of innocence; Heather's parents bustled in, lugging shopping bags. Heather automatically withdrew, scowling at the three members of her family that stood before her.

"Honey," Their mother's eyes bypassed Heather completely, instead turning to Anna with a ridiculously sappy reverence. "Tonight, I'm going to make you your favourite meal, and I'll even cook some of that hazelnut mug cake you like for dessert..."

As Anna slapped on the falsely appreciative "Oh, you spoil me!" routine, Heather made a large show of storming upstairs to her bedroom and slamming the door, purely for attention. For most of the duration of Anna's visit, she remained up there like a snail in its shell while Anna basked in her ill-gotten attention.

She really hated her family.

* * *

Three days after Anna returned to college, Heather officially knew it was one of the most irritating weeks of her life. When checking the mail, she was almost blinded by a heavily purple-glittered envelope, which was sealed suspiciously with a heart shaped sticker of a certain gap-toothed "Codykins"... Heather didn't need to look inside to know it was from Sierra. The terrifying fangirl had mailed the same tacky invitation to every one of the competitors (how did she get their addresses?), and Heather felt the urge to kick something over when she read the invite; Sierra was hosting what she referred to as an "OMG MY FIRST REUNION PARTY!" pool party, and practically ordered all contestants to join her.

Heather thought she would have rather eaten her own toenails.

The thought of hanging around at Sierra's house, with a group of freaks, many of whom had a personal vendetta against her, sent Heather into slight convulsions, especially since it was a pool party, and the mentally scarring thought of Owen's swimming trunks beings ripped off (which was a large possibility) rand through her head. Without any second thoughts, she'd crumpled the invite up and hurled it into the trash can. However, a few days later, when she expressed her contempt about it to Alejandro, she was shocked and confused when he stated that he would be going.

"What?" she nearly dropped her phone in disbelief. "_Why_ would you want to go?"

"It is good for my image among the other contestants." He said simply, and Heather snorted.

"Look, take it from me after three seasons on this stupid show; after people discover what type of person you REALLY are, then you're not gonna win them back. And considering you got, hmm..." she pretended to count on herfingers for effect, even though Alejandro couldn't actually see her. "Oh, about 12 people booted off, directly or indirectly, I can't exactly see you being Mr Popular any more."

She could almost see him shrugging on the other end of the line.

"It is still good for our image."

"Pfft- Please. You sound like a loser politician going to a charity benefit or something. What makes you..." However, her mind locked on one specific word, and her hand tightened angrily around the phone. "Wait, what do you mean, OUR image?"

There was a rather long pause on the other end of the line, before Alejandro started talking in a very sugar-coated voice.

"Mi ángel... You know how boring it would be without you..."

Heather wanted to somehow punch him from the other end of the phone; she didn't even understand why he wanted to go, let alone dragging her with him...

"Not on your life." She sniffed.

* * *

It took Alejandro three days of arguing with her. Heather found it impossible to comprehend why he'd want to do something so pointless and disgusting, anyway.

"Even if _you_ want to go and flaunt your hot chest or something..."

"You think I'm hot?" He interjected smugly. Heather glared at him, though a blush appeared on her cheeks and she had to look away quickly;hiding a blush was becoming a reflex now.

"Whatever," she dismissed. "Anyway, just because you want to show off doesn't mean I have to go." she folded her arms stiffly. "Are you sure it's not just because you want to see me in a bikini or something?"

He smirked. "Not necessarily- although, come to think of it, that is an added bonus..."

Heather smacked his arm once again, rolling her eyes. "Well, I'm NOT going. I don't even get why you want to go, anyway; it's just gonna be a bunch of home brand junk food and stupid total drama music, while Mrs Crazytown chases Cody everywhere."

As she spoke, she shuddered, envisioning the inevitable scene. Owen would park himself at the food table, Sierra would be attacking Cody with kisses, Bridgette and Geoff would be making out, Courtney would be strangling either Duncan or Gwen...

Alejandro sighed, staring forcefully at her. "Heather, I do not relish the idea of seeing any one of those _incompetentes_ any sooner than necessary. But-" Heather had been about to open her mouth again. "But, it is likely that Chris will try and force us into another series at some point. If we at least try to keep up appearances, then we won't get voted out first."

He hated the whole idea as much as Heather did, and knew just how much of a disaster it would inevitably be. But the Spainiard also feebly hoped that by at least making an appearance, then they'd be a little less hated the next time the stupid game rolled around. (Plus, he really did want to see his girlfriend in a bikini again...)

She had to admit, it was a good point; completely disassociating themselves with the others wouldn't be good for strategy if the game forced its way into their life again, which Heather feared it would. It kind of annoyed her how Alejandro was already strategizing, but she couldn't help relishing the idea that Alejandro already assumed he and Heather would ally when Total Drama resumed...

"Fine." She snapped. "But you can pick me up and drop me home, because I am NOT putting my car where those losers can get it."

Alejandro grinned, as Heather ascended to leave; the two were holed up in a coffee shop, since Heather wouldn't dare meet him at her house where her parents were, and Alejandro didn't want her anywhere near Josè either.

"Oh, and chica?" He called after her. Heather hesitated, before looking over her shoulder.

"You are going to wear a bikini, aren't you?" He teased. Heather snorted, but couldn't help feeling a little smug as she exited.

* * *

When the dreaded night of Sierra's juvenile party came around, Heather slipped a rather revealing bikini into a terrycloth bag, waiting dejectedly. She still would have preferred sitting in a bucket of leeches than spending an evening with the rest of the contestants, and sighed as an overstated looking red sport's car pulled out the front of her house; convertible, flashy and top-of-the-line, there was no doubt it belonged to her boyfriend (she wasn't sure when he'd assumed that name; it wasn't at any fixed point, but they'd both started calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend with ease.). Slamming the door behind her and resisting the urge to race back inside the house, her heels clicked along the pavement. The moment she reached the car, the passenger door flew open, and she sunk into the smooth leather coupe savagely, folding her arms.

"This sucks," She muttered sourly, without a greeting.

"It does," Alejandro agreed, as the car pulled away from her house. Though it was dark inside, each glaring streetlight they passed sent a ray of light into the car, so that she could see Alejandro looking just as unwilling to go to the event as she was. Sierra's home wasn't far from hers, and Heather could spot it the second they turned into the street; the house was surrounded with balloons bearing Cody's face, while she cold hear the total drama themesong pounding from Sierra's back yard. Heather groaned, sliding down a little in her seat.

"Please explain to me again why we're doing this," She complained. Alejandro was having second thoughts, but he reminded himself of the bigger goal (which, he also reminded himself, was the possibility of allies for another season and NOT seeing Heather in a bikini...)

Heather, never being one go miss an entrance no matter how lame the event, attempted to strut dramatically in, though this was somewhat ruined when Alejandro linked his arm with hers, halting her overdramatic tread. They rang the doorbell, both grimacing when the sound of Chris's laughter (that was taking a crush too far, in Heather's opinion) emitted from the device. The door was flung open a little too eagerly, and a coffee-skinned face poked out abruptly, startling the two.

"Hiiiii, welcome in..." Sierra squealed before stopping, her face falling significantly when she saw who she was letting into her house. "Oh. It's you."

Heather's jaw clenched. "Why did you invite us in the first place if you're going to be so rude about it?" she snapped, tossing her hair. "We can just go, then- I didn't even want to come here in the first place..."

Sierra shrugged. "You're part of the cast," the fangirl said simply, before opening the door, her edupp suddenly growing huge and hyper again. "Welcome to the OMG MY FIRST REUNION PARTY pool party!" She finished her words with a snorty laugh, and Alejandro and Heather stepped inside.

"Oh, -Censored-." Heather cursed loudly at the sight in front of her. The whole entrance hall of the house was full of pictures of total drama; posters of each season, while life size portraits of both Chris and Cody hung on each wall. At the end, a wide door led off to a lounge room, where Heather could see lights strung sloppily around the place, hanging over unbelievably tacky total drama merchandise. Worse, however, was the sight of the other competitors; they had all ceased whatever they were doing to glare viciously at Heather and Alejandro. Heather felt her stomach contract; Alejandro's whole logic for attending this party was wrong, since there was no WAY any of them looked like they'd warm to either of the antagonists...

Someone threw a garishly-iced cupcake at Heather, who ducked it automatically as she and Alejansro sauntered into the room, Sierra at their heels. It was strange to see everyone again, and it felt as though it had been years instead of two or so weeks. They all looked just as they had when Heather had last seen them (though Sierra was out of the wheelchair, her hair grown back to a small crop of dark brown- it was still too short to dye- fuzz, which she'd wrapped a green headband around in an attempt to cover it up) and it felt just as though they were stepping back into the game... Heather hated it.

As they entered, Heather couldn't help thinking Sierra's house would have actually been decent if the ridiculous total drama mementos were removed; it was a surprisingly large home, even if it was only one story, and a huge pool took up an expanse of the backyard; Sierra had filled the entire surface of this with more delightfully tacky Cody-faced Balloons. No one was actually swimming- though Lindsay and Beth were having a childish balloon fight inside the pool; the contestants were mostly socializing around the edges of in the house, while Owen had inevitably parked himself at the overly stuffed snack table and was practically rolling around in a huge plate of chips. Heather shuddered, tempted to thwack Alejandro again for forcing her to attend this party...

Unsure of what really to do, she found herself slipping into Sierra's bathroom to change into her bikini, just for the sake of it. As she switched the light on, Heather couldn't help shrieking; the whole room was decorated like the outhouse confessional from the island, except that there were also a multitude of shirtless Chris and Cody pictures taped to the mirror.

"Ugh, this is disgusting!" Heather complained under her breath, folding her clothes up and slipping the towels into the tiled floor- the multiple ceramic tiles were painted to look as though they were grimy and covered in mould, just like the ones in the communal toilet at Wawanakwa. Her bathing costume was incredibly revealing, strapless and low cut, but Heather had little shame in showing off her body. As she stepped out, Alejandro somehow appeared, making an approving noise that was barely intelligible over the pounding music- it had now switched fom the total drama theme song to a cheap Drama Brothers CD. The latino's green eyes shone appreciatively at Heather's revealed figure, and she rolled her eyes.

"Stop gaping at me, pervert." She scorned him (though she was grinning inside), pulling the scrunchie from her hair so that it fanned out around her shoulders. She felt a little cold in the hallway, a slght draft coming from the open front door, but shook it off, her heels clicking on the floorboards as she stepped through the crowded lounge and onto the slightly less cramped outdoor area. Sierra did have a huge backyard, one with surprisingly glamorous architecture; a large section was paved, a huge pool in the centre, while the sides of the garden were filled with plants and park benches. However, most of the tasteful space was filled with not-so-tasteful people (in Heather's opinion) and Heather's lip curled at the sight of her past competition.

"So... Now what?" Heather demanded, staring at Alejandro. While the concept of trying to be sociable in order to gain allies had seemed viable before, but now it just felt awkward. Heather didn't really know how a stupid party would get either her or Alejandro in anyone's favour, and she wasn't sure how they were even supposed to socialize when they were being simultaneously glared at by several pairs of disgruntled eyes. Alejandro seemed to consider this for a moment, before shrugging; he refused to admit that he was severely regretting his idea to attend this nightmarish party.

"We just make our wonderful presence known, and then..." For one of the first times since she'd known him, Alejandro sounded unsure, overwhelmed by the gaudiness of the occassion.

"Then we go and ask 'Hi, do you guys want to be allies?'" Heather suggested sarcastically, shrugging away from him slightly and giving a nearby cluster of cheap balloons emblazoned with Chris's face on a particularly vicious glare, shoving the decorations roughly out the way with her elbow. "This whole thing was a stupid idea..."

"Just try and stand half an hour," Alejandro suggested slowly. "If the others are still hostile, then we can go back."

"It's still an evening wasted," Heather muttered sourly, tossing her hair. Duncan sidled past, giving them both a rather smug look, monobrow half raised.

"So... You guys hooked up, then?" He questioned. Heather scowled at him, slipping her arm from Alejandro's so she could shove the delinquent back.

"Piss off, loser." She snapped, narrowing her eyes at him. Duncan blinked, before giving Heather a weird look and muttering something about PMT under his breath. Alejandro raised an eyebrow at Heather, drawing her closer.

"Patience," he hissed smoothly in his girlfriend's ear. "We are supposed to be winning them over-"

Heather pulled away, face aggravated and stony. "_You_ can win them over," She snipped, sticking her nose up in the air snottily. "_I_ am just going to wait in the stupid car."

They'd been there for a maximum of five minutes, and Alejandro would have protested, but Heather's eyes narrowed, mouth drawing into a stubborn scowl. He could tell that she really didn't want to be here, and it seemed like she intended to be awkward and nasty towards the others anyway, wrecking any plans of winning over any contestants to their side for the inevitable next series of Total Drama...

"Anyone want to hear the new SONG I wrote?" Sierra shrieked inhumanly, half-sprinting out to the patio with a microphone in one hand and Cody in the other. Though her question was met with a loud chorus of "No," from everyone standing outside, the creepy fangirl didn't take any notice, and cleared her throat.

"Ooo... CooooDYYYY... Your eyes are like BLUEBIRDS..." She began to half-screa, into the microphone. That clinched it; wordlessly, Alejandro handed Heather the keys to the car.

"I'll be with you in half an hour, Heather." He promised her, staring with an ashen expression as Sierra continued to "sing." (If you could call it that; while her voice was actually Okay during the singing challenges in world tour, this self-written song had no tune, and Sierra was practically screaming it out at the top of her lungs, reminding Heather of an irritated cat.)

Heather stalked inside, already relieved to be away from Sierra's fabulous (not) performance. She could still hear the girl's embarrassment to music (and the crescendo of boos that were beginning to issue from the rather irritated listeners) from outside as she made her way around the house, trying to remember where she'd placed the terry cloth bag containing her clothes; she thought, with a tweak of annoyance, that it had been pointless getting changed anyway, considering she was going to be sitting sulkily in Alejandro's car for most of the evening...

The queen bee shoved open the door to Sierra's bathroom, but frowned; her clothes weren't in there, where she was sure she'd left them. Heather racked her brains, trying to recall if she'd discarded them in amother room, or a closet... As she began impatiently flinging open doors in the hallway, she could hear voices drifting out from inside a different room. Her automatic response was to press her ear to the garish yellow wal. And eavesdrop, just in case she heard something blackmail worthy... Her nose wrinkled in disdain when she heard Gwen's distinct voice, thinly muffled by the wall, from inside whatever room it was.

"Pool Parties aren't really my thing." Gwen said softly from inside to whoever she was talking to. "But Duncan wanted to come for some reason... I think he might be spiking the drinks or something..."

There was a faint girlish giggle, which made Heather roll her eyes from the other side as she continued to listen in, briefly forgetting about her missing clothing.

"I don't really like loud music or dancing," the other person- Heather identified the voice as being Bridgette's- responded conversationally. "Geoff loves it, though, and it can be a little fun..."

As the two girls went on to discuss trivial things, such as who had attended, Heather rolled her eyes.

"Blah, Blah, Blah," She mocked under her breath, fiddling the strap on her shoe. "Bor-ing!"

However, as she pivoted swiftly, her body tensed; she had heard them mention HER name... Now intrigued, she pressed her head back against the wall, curiosity breaking across her features.

"I can't believe Heather and Alejandro are together," she heard Gwen laugh slightly. "I mean, can you imagine kissing Heather?"

There was a typical "Ew!", and another round of snickering, which made Heather scowl. However, Bridgette's laughter died off more quickly.

"I do feel a little bit sorry for her, though..."

Heather raised an eyebrow at this.

"Sorry? For _Heather_?" From the tone of Gwen's voice, it was clear that the Goth didn't feel the same; she sounded almost amused. "Why?"

Bridgette sighed, and Heather found herself almost impatient, waiting for the surfer to respond.

"I don't know- I mean, I've been used by Alejandro too, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, even Heather."

_Used_ by Alejandro? Heather felt a strange coldness run through her blood, fists curling slightly. What did Bridgette mean, _used_? Surely she didn't actually think Alejandro was using her... Did she? Heather's mind began to spiral into a slight panic.

"You think he's using her?" Gwen voiced Heather's question, and Bridgette was silent for a second.

"He could be. I mean, he did use LeShawna and Courtney..."

Heather was starting to slump limply against the wall now; it was like Bridgette had opened a floodgate of insecurity for her, and she told herself to be strong.

"Yeah, but did you see what happened on the Volcano?" Gwen argued lightly. "He definitely likes her!"

For one of the first times, Heather actually felt a tiny stab of appreciation for Gwen. However, Bridgette made a doubtful noise.

"Maybe... Anyway, how is everything with you and Duncan?"

As the conversation changed subject, Heather ripped herself away from the wall, suddenly feeling a little dry. She reminded herself of all those romantic gestures he'd made; the way he acted around her, almost protective...

However, Bridgette's words had planted a seed of insecurity and doubt in the frantic girl's mind. He _seemed_ like he loved her, and yet he'd been pretty doting on all the girls he'd used, too...

Heather reasoned internally that they weren't in a game, and therefore there was no point in him using her; he wouldn't gain anything... However, his whole reason for attending the party that night was to win potential allies over for the next season; clearly, he was still making preparations and strategies for the game...

_And what if I'm part of that strategy?_

The thought was starting to terrify Heather, weighing down on her mind; she wished she'd never decided to eavesdrop on Bridgette and Gwen's conversation... Her hand,still clutched around the spare key to Alejandro's car, felt strange, and half-numb. Currently, she didn't feel good about sitting in the car,bsomething that reminded her so much of Alejandro, the Latino that was supposed to be her boyfriend, though in realitycould have just been playing her...

Somehow, she ended up in the lounge room, staring out at the patio where Alejandro was busily talking to Courtney. Seeing him speaking another girl sent a stab through her heart, and no matter how many times she tried to tell herself that it was just Gwen and Bridgette, and that they didn't know Alejandro, she just couldn't...

Her attention was drawn back minutely by the clink of a bottle, which was sudden enough to make her tense slightly. Her head snapped around unthinkingly, and she saw Duncan, hovering suspiciously over the huge bowl of disgustingly sugary looking punch, a bottle clutched in the delinquent's hands. Even in her freaked out state, Heather couldn't help rolling her eyes at just how typical he was...

"Are you spiking the punch?" she scoffed, cocking an eyebrow. Duncan looked up frantically, before giving her a defiant frown, piercings glinting in the scattered beams of the disco ball that was rotating from the lounge room ceiling.

"So what if I am?" he barked rudely, glaring at Heather. "What are you going to do, tell the stalker freak?"

Heather would have been inclined to do so, or tip the contents of the bottle over Duncan's stupid Mohawk, just for the sake of it. However, she was still reeling with a whirlwind of insecurity from what she'd heard Bridgette and Gwen saying, and somehow Duncan's idea of getting drunk sounded a lot more interesting to her than spending the night wondering achingly if Alejandro really was using her... She scanned the drink that Duncan held critically; translucent and an acidic green, it didn't look like any drink she'd ever encountered before, and she wondered if it was poisonous.

"So... Uh... What the hell is this?" Heather blinked disdainfully at the vivid green whatever-it-was in the bottle. Duncan shrugged.

"A homemade specialty of mine; it makes whoever drinks it get really high... " He rubbed his hands together, cackling evilly. "I can't wait to slip Courtney some of this stuff and film it..."

Really high? The prospect was stupid and immature, and yet somehow Heather felt temptation rise in her. She knew that getting drunk in front of a bunch of people would be something humiliating that she'd regret, but somehow, that strange feeling of betrayal still settling in her stomach, she felt the desire to be reckless.

_Don't be so stupid. _Her mind snapped at her._ What would Alejandro think?_

However, Heather's ego shoved that thought aside. Alejandro was the reason she felt so weird and hollow, and besides, he wasn't her boss...

Without a second thought, she snatched the bottle from Duncan's hands, tipping a good measure of the alcohol down her throat. The second she did, she shoved the bottle back into the punk's hands, already feeling strange; the drink was hot, and cold at the same time, and strangely sugary... As her body began to register the large swig she'd taken, she could feel her mind growing faint and fuzzy. Duncan stared at her, looking appalled; already, the expression on his face made her want to laugh.

"Uh... You really shouldn't drink that much of it, you know..."

What did he know? What did anyone know? Heather wanted to laugh already at how ridiculous everyone else was. She'd had alcohol before, even if she was under age, but this was a completely different experience; her mind felt as though it was jerking up and down, and the feeling of blissful disorientation was growing stronger...

She began to laugh loudly, tumbling over onto her back, guffaws riveting her body.

"Oops." Duncan said lamely.

* * *

**And I will leave it there for now. A pretty lame, uneventful chapter, but things are going to pick up from the next chapter onwards.**

**Also, I want to apologise because it kinda seems like this fic does't have much of a plot so far, it's just all "Alejandro and Heather do this, then that, then go there, then say that, blah blah blah." But I do actually have a plot planned for this, things are just leading up to something big that'll happen in a couple of chapters. I am hoping to update more quickly from now on, but I had writer's block on the party section of this chapter and kept rewriting it then changing it. I'm still not really happy with how it turned out, but still...**

**I feel I'm obliged to put this in here in case my fic gets reported or something; DON'T be an idiot and do underage drinking or anything. Just because Heather does doesn't mean you should. I am not condoning people getting drunk or anything. It feels like I've been mentioning alcohol a lot in my fics, since I also am writing about them getting drunk in "What we did in Vegas," so I just want to make it clear that I am not trying to encourage irresponsible drinking or anything. **

**Next chapter, which I hope will be better than this one was; Heather embarrasses herself by going a little bit insane under ghe influcence of alcohol. ****One unfortunate other persom may end up covered in punch and vomit as a result of Heather's intoxication, and the queen bee will have a little trouble trusting Alejandro after what she heard Bridgette and Gwen saying.**

**Random fact: All or nothing was originally going to be called "Reconsideration", then "Reconsider", then "Consider this", then I ditched the whole consider idea and went with "All or Nothing." instead. **


	5. Is that proof enough?

**Okay, I'm feeling lazy now, so instead of personally listing all the reviewers, I'll just say thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**I'm actually updating less than two months after my last chapter! *gasp* **

**Also, to the person who sent me a ridiculously harsh flame for NO REASON, telling me I should delete all my fics and learn to write, I am ignoring you. I am not deleting my fics just because one hater told me to for no reason.**

**Disclaimer: Uggggggh, you all know I don't own Total Drama. I am really over writing these all the time, so I'm going to have to start making them more interesting or something.**

**Plus, I typed this on my IPad, so there might be some autocorrect errors.**

**NOTE: I am NOT happy with how this chapter turned out. I think it's pretty stupid, so please forgive me :( I spent AGES on a huge chunk and then the document cut out and deleted it, ugh! **

* * *

**A brief recap of last chapter:**

**Alejandro and Heather (who I am assuming in this fic are eighteen and going on a gap year since TDWT interfered with their college plans) were having trouble getting used to their newfound fame. Heather's sister Anna, who was actually bitchier than her (is that possible? Just kidding, Heather...) came for a visit and drove her insane. Against their better judgement, Heather and Alejandro went to a reunion party hosted by Sierra, where Heather started to get insecure about her relationship with Alejandro, and got drunk.**

* * *

Alejandro looked around, brow furrowing in confusion. Though he had "socialized" for a half hour as planned, returning to his prized car, there was no sight of his girlfriend. Unless she'd impatiently called for a taxi to take her home early, the spainiard couldn't envision where she was; the only other option seemed to be that she'd gone back inside. But... Why would Heather go back in there? She'd expressed her disgust for the whole party within about two seconds of being there, and Alejandro frowned, turning back towards the childishly decorated house.

"Uh... Dude..."

Duncan's green head poked around from behind the door, face illuminated in the bright porch light. His face, which was usually arrogant but reasonably calm, looked almost guilty, and he stared nervously at Alejandro. This immediately made the Latino suspicious; he folded his arms, leaning against his car.

"You might want to go back inside..." the delinquent jacked a thumb back in the direction of the house. "I think your girlfriend isn't exactly... Herself..."

Alejandro's head snapped up quickly at the mention of Heather, and in a few seconds he found himself at Duncan's side.

"What's wrong with her?" He was surprised at just how forceful his words came out, and Duncan blinked, the uncharacteristic guilt still clear in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but couldn't really find a way to describe Heather's current behavior.

"I think you should just go in there, dude," he said finally, shrugging away a little from Alejandro. Somehow, though he reminded himself to remain calm, Duncan's hesitation was starting to worry Alejandro; he stalked back into Sierra's house quickly, tensing at the loud squeals mingled with catcalls that were now issuing from the lounge. As he stepped in, he froze; his girlfriend was standing- or rather, struggling to stay upright- on the snack table, the other contestants all staring up at her (some were egging her on) while she staggered about, yelling catcalls and laughing maniacally. She was clearly very drunk...

And she had also ripped her bikini top off, and was strutting around topless, in front of twenty or so other people.

"_Mierda_." Alejandro cursed under his breath as Heather began sniggering loudly.

"You are all such _looooosers_!" she sang out, voice slurred. The music still thudded away in the background, but in her drunken state Heather was much louder. She slipped, knocking a large bowl of corn chips over with her foot, scattering the snacks across the table and floor. For a moment, Alejandro found himself gaping at her, completely unsure or what to do; he'd very rarely dealed with drunken people, and whatever Heather had been drinking was making her act completely irrational. His mind reeled with questions; why was she drunk? Where had she gotten the alcohol? Most importantly, why wasn't anyone stopping her? The others, though some looked pitying or even disgusted, seemed to be finding Heather's humiliation of herself a source of entertainment. Admittedly, Alejandro reminded himself, he probably would have been amused if it was someone else's girlfriend acting ridiculous. Still, he would have had the common courtesy to stop her from making a total scene...

He pushed through the crowd of onlookers, calling out to her. Heather looked down at the sound of her name, squinting as she spotted Alejandro's face. He looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't quite pinpoint who he was... Everything was a blur in her mind, streaks of laughter shooting through her thoughts.

"Heather?" Alejandro reached a hand up to help her down, but she just blinked slowly at it, as though a hand was a strange, foreign concept to her.

Finally, she looked up into Alejandro's face, blinking once more; when she opened her mouth, a strange, sickly-sweet odor issued forth from her breath.

"You look like Alejandro," she observed, before breaking off into giggles. Alejandro raised an eyebrow at her.

"That might be because I _am_ Alejandro... Come on _chica_, you should probably get down from there..."

However, Heather brushed this comment off, straightening herself up on the table once more before slipping; Alejandro winced slightly as she crashed down onto the floor, giving the carpet a filthy look as though it had personally offended her.

"Hey!" She accused, looking around furiously. "Where the hell did the stupid table go?"

The spainiard shrugged out of his shirt, and as he helped Heather up he slipped it over her bared chest in a makeshift covering. It felt so wrong, seeing Heather completely erratic and yet very vulnerable like this; usually, she was- or, at least, tried to be- dignified, and it was very unlike her to be acting like this. He supported a stumbling Heather under his arm, looking around; the other contestants were all staring at them now curiously, beams of light from the disco ball overhead scattering across their gaping faces. Alejandro frowned accusingly at all of them.

"How did this happen?" he queried sharply, and was unsurprised when a wave of heads turned towards Duncan, who rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I didn't tell her to drink half the bottle!" He defended loudly, throwing up his hands. "I just brought some stuff to liven up the party, and she practically stole it from me..."

He cut off when Alejandro's face darkened significantly.

"And what is this "stuff" you brought, _amigo_?" He demanded, the last word biting with sarcasm; right now, he wanted to hit Duncan for bringing whatever-it-was to the party. What if Heather had been injured, drowned in the pool, or gotten alcohol poisoning? Duncan gave him a defiant look, but withdrew a bottle from his pocket.

"It's a home brew! A little vodka- okay, a LOT or vodka, green food coloring, and a dash of..." he cut off with a cough that sounded suspiciously like "speed." The fury in Alejandro's glare increased.

"Duncan!" he practically growled. The delinquent flipped his palms up.

"Hey, just a _little_ bit..."

"She could get _muy_ sick!" He began working out doses in his head, and ways to treat it... Even if Heather had only ingested a small amount, like Duncan had said, she could have possibly needed her stomach pumped to free her body of the toxins- that was, if she didn't eject them naturally...

Heather swayed, then ripped herself out of Alejandro's arms, gagging for a moment, before she vomited spectacularly over a shrieking Courtney. The C.I.T. gave Heather a filthy glare, while the intoxicated queen bee just sniggered slightly.

"I could sue you for my cleaning bills, Heather!" Courtney yelled, though the fact that she was covered in an abnormally green vomit detracted from her usual authority. "_And_ for underage drinking!"

While most people tried to hide their laughter, Duncan was close to tears at the sight of his ex-girlfriend, covered in Heather's bile. Courtney snapped around, glaring at him.

"The charges against you are stacking up every minute!" She threatened, wiping her eyes frantically. Duncan scoffed loudly.

"Ooh... I'm SO scared..."

The C.I.T. Made an indignant noise, before storming off to find a shower. As she did, Alejandro stared with concern at his doubled over girlfriend, whose face looked pale and sickly, despite her pratically ceaseless stream of laughter. Once more, he helped her to her feet, glancing around the room.

"I'm taking her home," he announced, partly to the other Total Drama competitors and partly to Heather herself. While most of the others seemed to agree, Heather herself didn't seem happy about the prospect. She reached out, trying to pull herself away from him on the corner of the now ransacked snack table, face set with a strange, comical determination.

"I don't want to go home," she scoffed, words blending together. "I want more of that... Stuff." she threw a pale finger up in the air, as though making a lecture. "That stuff is so nice... So GREEN..."

"Here you g-" Duncan automatically pulled the bottle from where it was tucked under his heavily studded belt, though Alejandro slapped it out of his hands.

"Heather, you don't need any more alcohol," he told her firmly, though his voice was still coaxing. "You need to go home..."

"Home SUCKS." Heather proclaimed with melodramatic gloom, before throwing back her head. "They have MUSIC here..."

Alejandro ignored her objections, steering the unsteady girl out the door, the eyes of the others still watching them intently. A burst of fresh air hit their faces and Alejandro's now bare chest (Heather was still wearing his shirt to cover her lack of a bikini top) when they exited the house, and he saw Heather purse her lips slightly.

"Take me back, Okay?" she was practically yelling in his ear, words still a slurred mess. "I wasn't done with my drink..."

Alejandro sighed slightly at how difficult she was being; she dragged her heels imto the ground, attempting to halt their movement, but he continued to pull her along. Still supporting Heather's limp, awkwardly draped frame under one arm, he reached automatically for his keys, before frowning; he'd givegotham to Heather which meant, in her current state, that they could have been anywhere.

"Do you have my keys, _mi angèl_?" He asked her slowly. Heather's face rippled for a moment in confusion, before she shrugged.

"Maybe a chicken ate them."

Alejandro cocked an eyebrow, before withdrawing a spare ring of keys from the pocket of his trousers, slipping them out to unlock the car. He let go or Heather for a brief moment to unlock the car, but cringed as she fell, face-first, onto the grass. Sighing slightly, the Latino crouched down, taking Heather's arm again to help her back off. He helped her into the passenger seat of the car, where she immediately began staring out the window liked a trapped dog, her eyes wide but glazed as she blinked slowly. Alejandro frowned once again; now he'd gotten her out the party, what was he going to do with her? He could barely remember her address, and he doubted that in her current disorientation Heather would give him a straight answer if he asked her. Still, what was he supposed to do with the ridiculously drunk girl? He felt strangely protective over her even when she was sober, and now she'd lost most of her inhibitions, he felt almost as though he didn't want to leave her on her own...

Heather was going to hate him for this in the morning, but he decided to take her back with him.

As he drove back to his own house, which was significantly closer to Sierra's place than Heather's was anyway, some of Heather's ridiculous buzz from earlier in the evening began to wear off, descending into a slump; her head drooped, and she stopped looking around like a demented hare, instead slumping sullenly against the seat. However, she was clearly still disorientated and not herself. When he pulled into his extravagant drive, he looked across at Heather, and could not help smirking slightly.

"Can you walk, _Amor_, or am I going to have to carry you?"

Heather looked up groggily, blinking a few times.

"I can walk..." she mumbled, though after fumbling with the door handle for a good minute before remembering how to open it, she stepped out of the car, only to teeter like she was taking her first steps, before collapsing against the side of the car, face looking childishly insolent. Despite his concerns about her, Alejandro couldn't help laughing slightly, sliding out smoothly and pulling her into his arms. A small part of Heather's whirling brain reminded her that this should have agitated her, but she brushed it off, uncaring right now.

As he carried his limp girlfriend into the house, Alejandro wondered just how both his mother (the only Burromuerto apart from Alejandro currently in the house, since his father was on a business trip, Josè was at college and Carlos was in his home in Madrid) and Heather would react once they woke up to find the latter had spent the night there. He was relieved that Josè was not there; if he had been, then the middle Burromuerto child would have driven both him and Heather insane with torments and stupid innuendos. The Spanish teenager had to admit just how _wrong_ the situation seemed; bringing his drunk girlfriend back from a late party to spend the night at his house- many males would have seen it as an opportunity to take advantage of the girl. And yet, the whole idea of doing that to Heather repulsed Alejandro, not because he found her physically repulsive, but because he found- it was a strange, completely new sensation for him- that he cared too much about his girlfriend to do anything like that... The Latino couldn't help blinking at just how... _Unlike himself_ that was...

He'd originally intended to put Heather in the guest room, but it was next to the room his mother was currently asleep in, and he didn't want her to wake up and intervene. Instead, he continued to carry the delicate girl in his arms down the darkened hall, into his own expansive room. Heather's face blinked dully at the unfamiliar setting, but in a startling contrast to how she'd acted before, she was almost lethargic and half asleep. He couldn't help thinking how oddly youthful she looked, her dark hair flying around her head like a black halo, smaller than usual in his too-large shirt. It was _cute_, though he knew that Heather would have practically ripped his kidneys out if he ever told her that. Still, he couldn't help touching her face slightly as he set her down beside him in his bed.

"Goodnight, Heather..."

* * *

Someone was going at Heather's head with a jackhammer, ripping away agonizingly at her brain.

Or, at least, that was what it felt like to her. Her head was pounding so heavily it set her teeth on edge, her throat was burningly dry, and waves of nausea brushed through her stomach. She tried to rack her brains to remember why she felt like this; the events of the past evening were painfully distant and surreal, and the last thing she fully recalled was snatching a bottle of abnormally green liquid from Duncan...

It didn't take her long for it to click, and Heather cursed mentally; she had a _hangover_. With a groan, the girl shifted under the covers in her bed, still clamping her eyes shut to avoid letting any bright light in that might increase her already vicious headache. However, as she moved, a frown curved onto her face. The blankets felt wrong, and there was no wall beside the bed, the way she was accustomed to... Worse, still, she could feel a tangible warmth laying beside her, and a niggling suspicion began to dawn in her clouded mind.

_Bad, bad, bad... This can't have happened..._

However, as she rolled over, she could feel a distinct form in the bed next to her; her eyes flew open, the light making her hiss in pain, but she forced herself to keep them open, looking across the bed. The room was blurry to ber, but things were slowly taking shape... She saw an arm, tanned and muscular, draped casually across the bed...

NO.

Oh, nononononono. This could NOT be happening.

_Oh, God, did I sleep with Alejandro last night? _ Despite her blistering headache, Heather shrieked, jerking across the double bed swiftly, eyes ablaze with horror. Alejandro stared up at her, face clearly confused, raising one eyebrow.

"Heather-"

He spoke softly to avoid making her head throb even more, but reached one hand out tentatively towards her. Despite her grogginess, anger began to bubble up in Heather's mind, and she snarled accusingly at him.

"You ASS," she growled, shying as far from him as she could, feeling almost frozen with fury. "I can't believe you- I get drunk ONCE around you, and you do this?" As she spoke, her voice began to grow hysterical. Her heart was beating a pulse to rival the one throbbing in her head, and the queen bee couldn't believe it- she'd woken up, completely hung over, in the bed of her boyfriend... What other explanation could she draw? To make it worse, as she looked down on her clothes, she was horrified to find she was only wearing one of Alejandro's shirts, completely topless underneath...

"You are the most disgusting snake ever!" she continued to snap at him. "We're through, Okay? No guy takes advantage of me while I'm asleep-"

Despite just how panicked she was, Alejandro couldn't help snickering slightly at Heather's overreaction, and the conclusion she'd jumped to.

"I can assure you nothing happened last night." he told her slowly, though for a moment Heather took no notice.

"-I don't care if you have freakish Spanish urges or something, you do not f-" however, as his words sunk in, Heather's head flicked towards him, eyes looking slightly more relieved.

"We didn't..." she trailed off, eyes fixed on Alejandro's extremely amused face. He shook his head earnestly, though she couldn't help scrutinizing his face to see if he was honest. Part of her knew that Alejandro did care about her, but underlying suspicions told her that maybe all he wanted was a conquest or something...

"No." He reassured her firmly, shifting up in his huge bed. Heather relaxed just slightly, before looking around, surveying her surroundings. The room was huge, the cream walls covered with multiple gilt framed portraits of Alejandro himself; posing shirtless, holding a trophy, grinning slyly at the camera...

"Then, uh, why am I here?" she cocked an eyebrow at Alejandro, still not entirely convinced. "You could have just taken me home, you know."

Alejandro shrugged, eyes still focused on the girl's face. "I don't know- I thought it would be easier..."

Heather slumped down in the bed, pressing a clammy hand to her forehead. "Ugh- why didn't you stop me from drinking last night?" It was irrational to blame Alejandro, since he hadn't actually been around her at the time she'd snatched the drink from Duncan, but she was in a completely sour mood, so she blamed him anyway. Still, Heather wondered what on Earth had possessed her to get drunk; her memory was disjointed, and she couldn't completely recall what had given her the urge to "drown her sorrows" in liquor...

"Where are my clothes? And my bikini top?" she asked her boyfriend hoarsely, and he frowned, as though he was trying to avoid telling her something.

"I do not know where your clothes are, _chica_. You probably left them at Sierra's... As for the bikini top, you may have... Torn it off... when you were intoxicated..."

Heather's cheeks flamed red, and she cringed, knotting her fingers furiously into her hair. If she'd torn her bikini top off, then that meant that Alejandro would have seen her topless... The thought was unbearable. She wanted to crawl inside one of the pillowcases on the bed and disappear forever.

She hissed a profanity through her teeth, still clutching tightly onto her hair. "Did I do anything else last night that's going to have ruined my life?"

Alejandro couldn't help smirking slightly. "You may or may not have thrown up on Courtney. "

Heather snorted loudly, looking up. "I _barfed_ on little miss perfect?" she scoffed, then shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Whatever." However, despite looking almost smug at the notion that she'd thrown up over someone she really hated, Heather's face twisted into a scowl again, looking slightly agitated.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now, though?" Heather didn't have any clothes with her, and there was no way she'd be seen dead walking around in one of Alejandro's too-large shirts with just her bikini pants underneath. Worse was the notion of coming home late- though her parents usually failed to notice anything she did, she doubted they'd overlook her staying out all night and coming home completely wasted. "This sucks! How am I supposed to get back home only wearing this? My parents are going to flip-" she froze at the word parents, before looking frantically at Alejandro. "Your parents aren't here, are they?"

His face fell, a clear indicator that they were, and Heather's hands balled into fists.

"Only my Mother," he responded after a beat, but Heather growled, folding her arms stiffly. To add to her already horrible situation, she now had to find a way of avoiding meeting Alejandro's mother in such a humilating position- what kind of girl would she thnk Alejandro was dating? Usually, Heather didn't care what people thought, but somehow this really worried her. The image of the Spanish woman she'd seen in photos littered around the house on her first visit scoffing at her and forbidding Alejandro to ever see her again appeared in her head, but she shook it out.

"Great," she muttered sarcastically, glaring at him. "You should have just taken me home, you jerk."

"But then you would not have had the to-die-for experience of spending a night in the bed of the great Alejandro Burromuerto-" Alejandro caught Heather's facial expression and shut up.

"Well, what's the mom of the _not as "great" as he likes to think_ Alejandro Burromuerto going to say when she sees a girl crawling out his bed with very few clothes... And that's another thing... What am I going to do about my _clothes_?"

"Well, in my opinion, you look very sexy as you are..."

"Stop it, okay?" Heather's face darkened significantly; while she often found herself trying not to smile at Alejandro's stupid flirtatious remarks, today she was really not in the mood- she felt overtired anyway due to her hangover, and was getting stressed about her current predicament; she didn't exactly relish the idea of giving the impression that she was completely loose to the mother of her boyfriend, especially when the woman seemed to be the kind who believed in bringing up "gentlemen" (or at least, a supposed gentleman who for all his "gentlemanly" ways liked to annoy Heather as much as possible).

"I am sure that my Mother will love you," Alejandro attempted to soothe her, placing his hand over one of hers. "She has been dying to meet you, you know..."

Heather raised an eyebrow irritably. "Yeah, because I'm SURE any Mother would think of finding a girl completely wasted in her son's bed the IDEAL way to get to know her." she snapped at him, pulling her hand sharply from his grasp. The light streaming from the window was still bearing painfully into her eyes, and she blinked viciously, once again kicking herself for getting drunk the previous night. While there were far worse morning afters possible, this still wasn't good...

"Heather." Alejandro looked firmly at her, shooting her a smoldering look with his eyes that would have turned most girls silent and cooperative, though Heather refused to be affected. "While I agree that this is not exactly... _Desirable_... I can assure you that my mother is very open minded. If I explain the situation to her, she is more likely to be proud of me for taking care of _mi Amor_ than judgemental towards you."

Heather's face was still stony, and barely convinced. She could never really be sure if Alejandro was being truthful or not, but what other choice did she have? Jump out his window and walk home in nothing but a too-big shirt? Finally, she conceded with a stiff nod, pulling herself out the bed. As her feet hit the floor, she felt a wave of vertigo strike her, but stood carefully, waiting for it to pass. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be too nauseous, though sharp movements sent her stomach churning in protest. She straightened herself up slightly, smoothing down her ridiculously messy hair.

"What am I going to d about clothes, though?"

He shrugged once more, something that really aggravated Heather.

"I am not wearing any of your clothes," she snapped, before he could even suggest it. Alejandro gave her a look of mock-innocence, despite the fact that borrowing his clothes had been the pathetic solution he was about to suggest.

"I am sure that if the worst comes to worst, you will be able to borrow some of my mother's attire." At the indignant look Heather gave him, he quickly elaborated. "Most of her clothes are designer, and there are some outfits she has never even worn yet..."

This seemed to satisfy Heather just enough, even if she hated borrowing clothes. She stretched out slightly, rubbing her temple with a low groan.

"Ugh- I feel disgusting... I need a shower..." she started towards the door, before pausing. "Where actually is your shower?"

Alejandro smirked. "There's one down the hall, but you would be welcome to use mine-"

Heather shook her head abruptly. "And risk you finding a way to spy on my?" she asked drily, while he chuckled in response. "Hell no. Go do something productive, like tell your Mom I'm here."

* * *

"Your girlfriend is here?" Gracia Burromuerto crowed, straightening up on the sofa. Though part of her was concerned for the girl, considering the condition Heather was in, she couldn't hide her maternal excitement; this was THE Heather, the girl her son wouldn't ever shut up about... She'd never seen her youngest son care so much about a girl before, and if she'd been able to impress even the admittedly egotistical Alejandro, then it was likely that she was really something.

Alejandro nodded in response, and watched as a smile- THE smile, the one he'd inherited from her- spread across her face.

"Well, then," she informed him in Spanish. "You should invite her to have breakfast with us- I can't wait to meet her..."

She began questioning him about Heather; she was only too eager to lend the girl any toiletries, clothes and other necessities that she needed, and Alejandro couldn't help grinning at how enthusiastic his mother was. Clearly, she wasn't disgusted, as Heather had feared earlier, and would be polite and gracious towards her son's girlfriend.

He could only hope Heather would extend the same politeness towards his mother, too, and not just scoff in her face and declare the woman a "loser", since he doubted that would bode well...

* * *

Heather stumbled out onto the landing, feeling disgusting and completely out of place against the sophisticated setting of Alejandro's house. She was still wrapped up in his overly large (but admittedly comfortable) shirt, her hair feeling like a scouring pad, face ashen... She could only hope she didn't have vomit on her face.

Showering felt like heaven to the hung over teen, even if the sound of the water splattering irritated her head a little. She scrubbed herself vigilantly, hoping go remove any possible traces of vomit from her body, indulging in the deliciously scented selection of body scrubs available. Dressing posed a problem, however, since the only clothes she had were her scanty bikini pants and Alejandro's crumpled shirt from the previous night; she cursed in irritation. Even if Alejandro's mother did decide to lend her clothing, she didn't have anything with her right now... Eventually, Heather had to make do by slipping a bathrobe (she hoped it wasn't the infamous Josè's or anything like that, since that would just be weird) from the heated rail fixed into the wall on over her bikini,mpulling her damp hair back from her face. Despite being clean now, she still didn't look completely great; her eyes were bloodshot and ringed with black, skin even paler than normal, but she looked and felt a little fresher.

A knock on the door made her grit her teeth, and Heather considered kicking Alejandro in the balls, just so he could experience some of the agony she felt in her head right now.

"Heather, are you decent?" she could practically hear his patented smirk creeping into his voice. "Part of me hopes the answer is no..."

She threw the door open to glare at him. "Oh, grow up."

Alejandro merely grinned slyly as Heather slunk past him, scowling. However, before she could skulk back to his room and stew in her own juices, he caught her arm.

"Heather, I would like to introduce you to my mother." His voice increased in volume, and he looked over his shoulder slightly. "Mama, this is Heather."

"Heather?" A woman with a lilting accent gave a small noise of delight, before breezing around the doorway to embrace Heather. The girl stood rigidly, feeling awkward; she wasn't really a friendly, hugging-type person, especially not with people she'd only just met, and since hugs also reminded her all too well of Sierra, and the disgusting, overpoweringly-sweet smell the fangirl left that just never seemed to wash out. Alejandro couldn't help feeling a little uneasy with how uncomfortable Heather looked in his mother's embrace; he was praying that the two most important women in his life would get along well enough.

When Gracia withdrew from her, Heather tried not to gape slightly. She'd seen photos of her, but in the flesh Alejandro's mother was ridiculously beautiful; the kind of woman who looked far younger than her actual age and would turn heads in a crowd... A female Alejandro, really (with the obvious lacking soul patch and abs.)

"It is so wonderful to finally meet you!" While her English was fluent, her voice was more heavily accented than her son's. Heather couldn't help thinking dully that she also spoke in the formal, almost "pretty" way that Alejandro sometimes did. "You are even more beautiful than Alejandro said!"

Instead of responding with a "_Duh_," or an "_I know_," as she usually would have, Heather forced a weak "Thanks," through her lips. Being polite to someone really wasn't Heather's forte, especially since she rarely used the word thanks outside of a sarcastic context. Still, completely blowing off Alejandro's mother seemed just a little inappropriate, especially since Alejandro seemed to actually respect his parents (the idea of him genuinely respecting anyone other than himself made her want to laugh drily). Gracia's smile widened, and she touched Heather's arm gently.

"So, Alejandro tells me you are in need of some clothes, then?"

Still feeling awkward, Heather nodded slightly. Alejandro couldn't help frowning slightly as Heather followed his mother unenthusiastically to pick out a loaned outfit; while his mother had been friendy, Heather hadn't seemed exactly comfortable. Still, at least she'd been acting civil, which was probably the best he could hope for with his feisty girlfriend...

Heather, who thought her own collection of clothes was quite impressive (for a teenage girl, anyway) couldn't help feeling a stab of envy at the sight of Mrs. Burromuerto's wardrobe. It was stuffed full with designer garments, many looking like they'd never been worn; even subdued due to her still-present hangover, Heather could appreciate clothing. Gracia's physique was similar enough to Heather's that her clothing wouldn't be too uncomfortable, and though she tried not to appear too impressed, the red sundress she ended up borrowing was undeniably pretty. Gracia was shorter than she was, so the fabric hung a little higher than it was meant to on her legs, but since Heasher was used to wearing short-shorts anyway, it wasn't a problem. Alejandro gave her a very appreciative smirk when she exited, and Heather could tell he was once again looking at her legs. The moment his mother was down the stairs, she elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Aren't you supposed to act like a perfect gentleman when Mommy's around?" she mocked. He gave her a look of clearly false innocence.

"I am ALWAYS a Gentleman." Alejandro objected firmly, folding his arms.

Heather raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you were just eyeing up my legs again."

"And that is a problem... Why?" Just to annoy her, he raked his eyes down her body once more, almost defiantly. Heather scowled at him, grumbling something about hangovers and not being in the mood for taunting as she descended the stairs. This was turning out to be a really weird morning for her, and she still had to endure the potentially nightmarish ordeal of having breakfast with Alejandro and his mother.

Heather wasn't sure what she'd been expecting- a fancy buffet laid out on the huge polished dining table she passed, with Spanish omelettes and churros? It seemed like the kind of overstated meal Alejandro's family would have served. Yet despite the old-fashionedsplendor of the house and Alejandro's taste for showing off, Heather was relieved to find him waiting for her at the kitchen island. She slipped onto the stool beside him, still feeling under the weather, and gritted her teeth at the sound of a pan clinking on the oven. An unfamiliar woman, her grey hair pulled back sharply, was busily mixing something on the hot plate, and Heather couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

"Who the hell is that?" she muttered lowly. Alejandro shrugged.

"It is Ramira, our maid..."

He said it as though it was the most commonplace thing in the world, but Heather couldn't help gaping at him.

"You have a _maid_? Seriously? What _century_ are you from..."

"Jealous, are you? Afraid I might be having a romantic liaison with her?" Alejandro teased her just for the sake of it, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. Heather looked at the clearly senior woman with her grey hair, and rolled her eyes.

"No way," she sniffed, flipping her hair in his face.

A plate of food was plonked down on the bench top in front of Heather, who stabbed it dully with her fork; it wasn't anything particularly fancy and exotic, just scrambled eggs.

"Not Spanish omelettes?" she couldn't help muttering drily, causing Alejandro to roll his eyes.

"Just because we are Spanish does not mean we must always limit ourselves to food from our home country." He informed her, intentionally adding a dramatic flair to his words. Heather just snorted into her food, and began to eat carefully. The hangover still dragged in her head- her appetite was small, and every clink of the fork made her want to wince. However, she felt a small object being slipped onto the side of her plate, and looked down to see a package of aspirin. Trying not to appear too grateful, Heather automatically downed a tablet with some juice, just before Alejandro's mother sat down across from the two teenagers. Somehow, Heather suddenly felt awkward once more, especially when she began asking the typical parent-y questions.

"So, Heather, what do you want to do as a career?"

_Take over the world._ "Uh- I don't know." _It's none of your business anyway._

"With your looks, you should be a model!" Gracia complimented cheerfully, sipping her coffee. When she looked away to say something to the maid in Spanish, Alejandro leaned in.

"Yes," he purred silkily, low enough that his mother wouldn't hear. "You should definitely become a _bikini_ model, Heather..."

Heather gave him a dark glare, mentally reminding herself to choke him with his cattle skull necklace the second that his mother wasn't around. She continued to eat, wishing that the aspirin Alejandro had slipped her would hurry up and work; her head was killing her. Gracia Burromuerto kept up small talk, asking Heather trite questions; where did she live, did she have siblings, what school had she attended, etc, occassionally throwing in a few comments about Alejandro's life. She was currently informing Heather on why they'd moved from Spain to Canada, something that Heather would have usually dismissed as boring, though with nothing better to do she listened now.

"... And it was a very beautiful place, but the heat was overpowering," Gracia was informing her. "Some of those summers we had when Alejandro was a child were disgusting! I know it is my home country, but sometimes I do not understand why people want to holiday there. I wouldn't wish the excruciating heat on anyone..."

She continued talking, but Heather's brow furrowed. Why did that sentence strike a chord in her brain? _I wouldn't wish it on_ anyone... Something was niggling at the back of her mind, something fuzzy. She could hear a familiar voice- Bridgette? It sounded like her- saying those words... No longer listening to Alejandro and his mother, she sorted through the dim and alcohol-laced snippets of memory from the previous night.

_"I've been used by Alejandro too, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, even Heather..."_

Heather sat up suddenly, the recollection of the exchange she'd heard between Gwen and Bridgette taking over her thoughts. She remembered it too well, now; why she'd wanted too get drunk, the feelings of doubt that had washed into her mind, the question that had plagued her thoughts; was Alejandro just using her?

Now her insecurities had returned, Heather found it very hard to concentrate. She couldn't help dwelling on the worry that he was using her; all of a sudden, she didn't wan to be here, be sitting in the house of someone who might have only wanted her as a strategic pawn. Sure, his mother seemed to think of her as Alejandro's girlfriend, but what if she was oblivious to his playing ways or- even worse- going along with some sick charade to get Heather to fall for him?

She wanted to leave stubbornly, but forced herself to endure the rest of the breakfast, being even less responsive. She kept telling herself that what Bridgette had said wasn't true, but now that memory had resurfaced it wouldn't budge from her mind; the thought that had troubled her ever since she started falling for Alejandro, the fear that he wasstill playing her...

It was irrational; she tried to force the idea out of their head. They weren't actually in a game right now, were they? Still, the worry silenced her for the rest of the morning. She said a weak goodbye to Alejandro's mother after breakfast, and climbed stiffly into Alejandro's car beside him, making sure she sat as far away from him as possible. Alejandro could sense how weird she was being, even for Heather, and couldn't help staring at her.

"You are unusually quiet, _mi a_-"

"Don't." Now the seed of doubt was replanted in her head, she couldn't help feeling brusque. She could easily understand now why she'd gotten drunk the previous night; anything to keep the poisonous thoughts that told her Alejandro didn't actually care out her head. Her abruptness made Alejandro blink slightly, and he gave her a questioning look as she glowered out the window. Why was she so weird all of a sudden? It could have been, he supposed, due to her hangover, but she'd been acting reasonably normal even then. Since half-way through breakfast, however, she'd been more withdrawn than usual...

"That went reasonably well," he attempted to say, though Heather didn't respond. "My mother really seemed to like you-"

"Really." Heather said coldly. "Tell me, does she like all the girls you bring home?"

She'd considered confronting him about the possibility of him playing her, but since it was so hard to tell when Alejandro was lying and when he was telling the truth, she'd planned to be subtle and search for any hints that he didn't really like her... Well, so much for being subtle. Alejandro recoiled at her words.

"Excuse me?"

Heather just shrugged. Part of her thought it was a little unfair to automatically jump to the conclusion that Alejandro was playing her, just from an eavesdropped snatch of a conversation, but then Heather was never one to judge people fairly.

Alejandro tried to concentrate on driving, but he kept looking back at Heather, who seemed the most distant she'd ever been towards him; even before they were "together", and she had allegedly hated him, they still would flirt...

"Are you alright?" he asked her lamely, after a few minutes of silence. Heather let out a sigh through gritted teeth, confusing Alejandro more.

"Is it any of your business?" she snapped, leaning further from him and against the window. After quite some time being comfortable around him, it felt strange being like that, and she tried to swallow back potential hurt. Alejandro's face hardened; something was definitely wrong...

"No, but I would have thought it was a fair question to ask _mi chica_..."

At the Spanish words, Heather let out a disbelieving snort. "_Your_ chica?"

This was getting ridiculous, and Alejandro felt a burning desire to know just why Heather had begun to act like this for what seemed like no reason. It seemed a little melodramatic, but he found himself pulling the car to the side of the road, before fixing Heather with a demanding stare, folding his arms.

"Why are you acting like this?"

She made no move to look at him, but instead scowled at him from the corner of her eye. After a moment, however, she pivoted in her seat to face him, trying to make the insecurity in her face.

"This isn't going to work." she spat, words venomous. "You almost had me, but I am NOT going to fall for this, got it?"

Confusion clouded Alejandro's face at her words, and his brow furrowed. "I don't know what you mean, Heather."

Heather threw her hands out furiously. "THIS! Everything! All of this -censored- about being a couple and things- I'm not going to fall for it any more... I can't believe I let you fool me for so long!"

Alejandro felt an unfamiliar sting at her words. Did she honestly think that he was "playing" her? He had to admit, he did have a reputation for doing that to women, so Heather's argument was feasible. But... They'd been together for a while now, and surely that would be proof that he really did care... What had brought this on, anyway? She'd been fine earlier on in the morning...

Slowly, to try and calm her down since she was still ranting at him about "being used", Alejandro placed a hand on her shoulder, looking directly into her eyes and refusing to shy from the glare she was sending him.

"What makes you think that I am using you, Heather?"

Heather's face still burned with fury, eyes slitted angrily. "Uh, everything! I'm not letting you do what you did to Bridgette, LeShawna and Courtney, understand?"

Alejandro sighed, leaning in to her slightly.

"Firstly, may I remind you that we are no longer playing a game? What reason would I have for using you right now?"

Heather stuck her chin out adamantly. "You're still strategizing, though- the whole reason you had for going to that stupid party last night was so you could charm the other competitors..."

"Heather, if I had planned on taking advantage of you for the million dollars, then I would have left you there on the volcano." he reminded her slowly. "I had a chance to win the money, but I went back for you, didn't I?"

Heather tried to stay firm, but the memory of the finale of total drama flashed through her head. It was hard to ignore what Alejandro had pointed out; he had been seconds away from throwing his doll into the fire, but had stopped when Heather called out, had gone back and confessed his love to her...

She opened her mouth to say something, but Alejandro took it as an opportunity to press his lips onto hers, trying to strengthen the proof that he really did care for her. Heather told herself to stay angry, but somehow what he'd said seemed to outweigh the comments she'd heard Bridgette utter...

"Is that proof enough?" he queried, when he withdrew. Heather shrugged.

"Maybe."

She felt a little more confident about being with Alejandro again, but the fear that he was just messing with her still lurked in the depths of her mind. Still, that reaffirmation was enough... for now.

* * *

When Heather stumbled out Alejandro's car- thankfully, the aspirin he'd slipped her at breakfast had managed to decrease her headache slightly- her mother was inevitably waiting inside for her, face shocked.

"Where have you been?" she asked dutifully, though it was clear through her tone she cks have cared less.

_Hmm, let me see. Oh, yeah, I went to a party where I got completely drunk on home made alcohol mixed by someone who's been in juvie and woke up in my boyfriend's bed. I met his mother who, by the way, is a hell of a lot nicer than you are. Oh, and then I had a minor freak out because I thought my boyfriend was just using me. _

"Out," she responded simply, before stomping up the stairs.

* * *

**PLEASE NOTE: I have never had a hangover like that before, so sorry if it's really inaccurate or anything...**

**And that wraps up the awful, badly-written dribble that I am not pleased with at all. Forgive me for this terrible and utterly lame chapter.**

**So, Heather and Alejandro are still kind of secure. For now. But Heather's fear that he's just using her is NOT gone, and will return with a vengeance soon enough...**

**Next chapter, which will hopefully be better than this one was: The two get interviewed on TV about their relationship, which makes them uncomfortable. Heather spends another evening at Alejandro's house, and stuff that I can't be bothered summarizing right now since it's late where I am will happen.**

** I PROMISE that this will be updated pretty soon, because I actually have most of the next chapter already typed up. But next week, I am going on vacation for a few days, so I will not be updating or even have my IPad with me to message anyone or review anything.**

**Once again, I apologise for how bad this chapter turned out. See you all soon.**


	6. Three little words

**Author's note:**

**I would also like to make a shout out to a special reviewer this chapter: an anonymous Guest reviewer who sent me a lovely and bright Guest review on my last chapter saying "****_f*ck you gay and wrong idiot_****." Thank you for your "feedback"! I would happily respond asking why you feel the need to resort to childish insults for no apparent reason, except you reviewed anonymously. What a shame. If you have a problem with my fic then you could at least state why in your review. If it is an actual problem such as a bad plot or grammar, then I'll try and rectify it. If, however, you are flaming me because of a stupid reason like you don't ship Aleheather, then you can get lost. **

**And if you're trying to troll me, you're wasting your time, honey. I don't get pissed at or offended by trolls. I just get annoying and sarcastic, like I am now.**

* * *

**I don't own Total Drama and I typed this on an Ipad so please excuse any spelling errors that will have stemmed from autocorrect.**

* * *

Heather should have seen it coming. It was a known fact that the media and public would flock to any new craze on television like vultures to a carcass, and the moment any season of total drama concluded, the contestants would be constantly prodded for interviews until the hype of the season died down. When _Total Drama Island_ finished, she'd been roped in for numerous interviews about her elimination, and her rather shocking "haircut". At first, Heather had revelled in it, adoring being the centre of attention, but it grew old and irksome when reporters and fans alike continued to ask the same questions over and over, often even insulting her.

Now, Alejandro and Heather had been pronounced the official "hot" couple of the year, and people had inevitably begun to descend; first the media, then the large crowd of people who mindlessly followed any current media trend. While it had been building up for a while since the finale of the world tour ended- Heather still remembered being egged by some deranged Cody fan- only a handful of people had bothered them before, and all of a sudden they were getting hounded everywhere. It had always been Heather's dream to be in the spotlight, but it grew incredibly aggravating when every time she and Alejandro were seen together in public, a picture of them would appear a few hours later in either the magazines or on the Internet, spinning some ridiculous and completely inaccurate story about what the two were doing. Even worse was the attention that the general public paid them; there were whole forums about them on the Internet, and Heather was disgusted to find that some people had written ridiculous complaints about them getting together, stating that they didn't "ship" them, and Heather or Alejandro would have been better off with one of the other contestants.

"What the hell?" Heather had yelled, after discovering the extent of people nosing in her and Alejandro's personal life. "It's not even their business..."

She was also considering attending counseling after discovering a website solely dedicated to writing weird stories about the total drama characters- _fanfiction_ or something like that- and finding some of the incredibly weird and often perverted situations people seemed to take pleasure in envisioning her and the other contestants in.

The dreaded moment finally came when both teenagers received a chirpy phone call, inviting them to do an interview together on a daytime TV channel. Heather disliked interviews enough, and she absolutely _loathed_ daytime TV; it was always irritating talk shows, racked with middle aged women discussing "feelings" and advertisements for stupid phone-order products that could clean a house in thirty minutes or help someone drop dress sizes. Though she was more inclined to slam the phone down, to Heather's fury Alejandro agreed to it on both their behalfs straight away, naturally jumping at the chance to show off again in front of a widespread audience. Heather absolutely loathed the idea; TV interviews were annoying enough, but doing one with Alejandro next to her? What was she supposed to say if they asked her- and they most likely would- about how much she cared for him? Heather hated to admit just how much she cared for Alejandro, especially since every time she let any genuine emotion out he'd tease her about it. Admitting it on some stupid, tacky talk show in front of a group of screaming preteen total drama fans would be even worse, especially when she had a sinking feeling that Alejandro would spend the whole time showing off about how he knew Heather "loved him right from the start"...

_Love_. The stupid four letter word had also been irking Heather for a while. It had been more than three months since Total Drama had ended, and almost six months since she'd first met Alejandro- he'd become almost a permanent fixture in her life now, and she enjoyed having him there. But Heather wasn't exactly familiar to the emotion; she "loved" things, like her hair and shoes, in a superficial way, but for years, she'd mentally prevented herself from getting too attached to any human being. But, for a long time, she'd been in danger of caring a little too much for him. While she wasn't experiencing any weird romance novel-esque clichès like _"seeing stars every time she looked into his eyes"_ or anything stupid like that, she often found herself (disgustingly) thinking that what she felt for him might have been the dreaded L word. It was a word Alejandro used all too frequently while teasing her, dealing remarks like "_I know you love me_," or "_I love you when you're mad_." Heather supposed that she had used it too, a long time ago when they were on the volcano, and her lips had accidentally formed "love" instead of its polar opposite. But somehow, neither of those things seemed as notable as actually looking each other in the eye, and stating that they loved each other. Heather could'nt even imagine telling Alejandro- or anyone, for that matter- that she loved them; it was the sort of thing that made her want to gag.

But, for some reason, a tiny part of her wanted to say it to him.

There were a few moments where Heather almost lost all her dignity and told him what she felt. But every time she did, some niggling fear that he'd laugh at her and push her away stirred, and she'd fall silent sullenly. She wanted desperately to be able to, but it was just too hard to trust him. Heather had gone through life without trusting anyone other than herself, so trusting someone who was manipulative and devious by nature wasn't going to be easy. Saying to someone that you loved them was such a commitment; it meant that you were opening up to them, giving them your heart, wanting to be with them... _forever_. And she didn't know if she could promise that to Alejandro, because she was so worried that he would never promise it back.

* * *

Ever since Heather had spent the night at Alejandro's house, her family had been even more unbearable than usual; despite the fact that nothing had actually happened, Heather's mother had- though clearly out of obligation and not because she actually cared much about her daughter- attempted to instigate a mother-daughter sex-talk with the disgusted teenager, before presenting Heather with a box of... _Protection_. Revolted, Heather had thrown the box in her face and stormed off in mortification: it was much better, she decided, when her family didn't pay attention to her than when they actually tried to make an effort. She'd been trying to avoid her parents ever since, dreading the possibility of a reprise, which meant spending more time with Alejandro. Not that Heather, despite what she said outwardly, minded that. With several months before she needed to worry about applying to college (Total Drama had cropped up not long after they'd graduated, forcing them to take an unplanned gap year) she had enough time on her hands that she could spend most of her days with her boyfriend.

In order to get some peace from the nearby fans and paparazzi- they wanted to avoid the public eye as much as possible for now, considering they were having to take part in a stupid TV interview in less than twenty-four hours- the two had driven (or, to be precise, Alejandro had driven while Heather muttered about him showing off his ridiculous sports car) up to a near-deserted beach area, walking aimlessly along a mercifully empty boardwalk and eating frozen yogurt. If they had been a typical teenage couple, they would have most likely made childish remarks on how pretty the sunset was on the water and taken unhygienic slurps of each other's frogurt... Heather was extremely grateful that she and Alejandro were NOT like that...

"I can't believe we have to do a stupid interview tomorrow," the queen bee grumbled, before glaring at Alejandro.

"You know, this is your fault." She sniffed childishly. Alejandro gave her an incredulous look, though he chuckled slightly.

"How, may I ask, is this my fault?"

"Uh- you agreed to it. I wanted to tell the Tv network where they could stick their interview microphone, but before I could you were starting all that cr*p about '_it would be an honour..._'" Heather reminded him sourly, leaning back against the railing and staring down at her toenails- the french polish on one of them was slightly chipped, and kept irritating her line of sight. She really needed to unwind with a good pedicure, but considering just how much attention the media was splashing on her right now, that really didn't seem like a good idea- pedicurists were such ridiculous gossip-mongers that a pedicure could have resulted in some terrible story about her cheating on Alejandro being told to the press.

There was a brief moment of silence between them, which Alejandro broke by leaning in and promptly attempting to steal a spoonful of her frozen yogurt, while Heather gave him a furious look.

"Hey! This is mine!" she snapped, holding the flimsy paper cup away from his reach. "Eat your own!"

He gave her a mischievous, and almost childish, smirk.

"Ah, but my dear Mama always told me it was good to share," he told her matter-of-factly. "Besides... Yours is a different flavour."

Heather bit back a snigger, instead rolling her eyes haughtily and turning away. Despite his maturity, Alejandro could be incredibly childish when he wanted to be. They were silent for a little longer once more, Heather looking down aimlessly again, beginning to idly think up answers to the inevitably stupid questions that they would probably be asked during the interview the following day. She was always conscientious about what she said, having made the mistake of answering in a cumbersome way after her elimination on Total Drama Island and having her sister ring up, mimicking every single stupid phrase Heather had said.

"Do you need a ride to the studio?" Alejandro offered smoothly after a moment.

"No, I was just planning to tunnel my way there." Heather responded sarcastically, before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess so. But _ugh_- I _hate_ riding in your stupid car..."

This was actually untrue; Heather secretely loved her boyfriend's car, mainly because of the prestige of the brand; being shallow, things that were expensive and designer usually made her happy. However, Alejandro took ridiculous pride in his flashy vehicle, therefore Heather felt it absolutely necessary to insult it, just to irritate and spite him. Alejandro simply smirked at this remark.

"Have dinner with me?" He asked her spontaneously. Heather blinked at the rather sudden, unwarranted request. For a moment, she almost agreed unthinkingly, but caught herself.

"No," she said lightly, tossing her hair for effect. Alejandro was undeterred, and leaned in closer, still smirking.

"No, you will, or No, you won't?"

Heather snorted at this pathetic jibe, cocking an eyebrow.

"Seriously- who in their right mind says '_No, I will_,' you idiot? No, I will NOT have dinner with you."

Part of her wondered why she was being so stubborn about this. She had never actually _had dinner_ with Alejandro which, she realized now, was weird considering it was one of the first things people did when they became a couple. She also knew that Alejandro, being the manipulative jerk he was, usually ended up getting his own way in situations like this, and had a niggling suspicion that he'd find a way of having a dinner date with her whether she wanted to or not. Still... having dinner together? She'd never really imagined herself in such a cliché situation. Then again, Alejandro seemed to enjoy dragging her into disgustingly cliché situations; she'd already gone on a stupid _yacht_ with him for their first date, woken up drunk in his bed and had breakfast with his mother- all rather cheesy, typical scenarios.

"I don't mean today," he said slowly. "But what about tomorrow?"

"We have the stupid interview tomorrow," she reminded him dully, scrunching her now-empty frozen yogurt cup in one hand. Alejandro shrugged.

"I could take you out afterwards," he suggested huskily, fixing her with a smoldering stare that usually would have any female doing whatever he wanted. It didn't work on Heather, however, who shook her head.

"Apart from the fact that it's a lame idea anyway, you know how annoying it would be to be seen in a restaurant together? All these losers would try to get us to sign their napkins and stuff," Heather pointed out drily, lips curling into a stubborn line. Alejandro reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, I could take you back to my house and we could eat dinner there, ensuring that none of my family would be there..."

It was starting to tempt her, and for a moment she even wondered why the idea of having dinner with him was even that bad, but Heather shook it off, forcing herself to look away from his face and down at the footpath so that his almost demanding stare didn't manage to sway her. This wasn't even fully about going to dinner any more; Heather did not want to let herself concede and let Alejandro get what he wanted again. Somehow, when it came to dates, he always ended up being the one in control, choosing where and when they'd go out- for a dominant person like Heather, that grew pretty frustrating.

"I'm not having dinner with you tomorrow, got it?" Heather said brusquely, her snappy tone partially to remind herself not to give in; she was starting to have traitor thoughts about how nice it would be with just the two of them after the stupid TV appearance they were going to have to endure. However, she steeled herself- having dinner was too much of a sickly romantic notion, and was not something she was planning to do. Would Alejandro want to do something revoltingly "cute", like feeding each other, just to annoy her? Heather also didn't particularly relish spending more time at the extravagant status symbol Alejandro called his home. What if some of his family barged in if she was there, and found it necessary to irk her? Alejandro leaned in closer, now determined that Heather would concede for the same reason that Heather herself was being so stubborn; he wanted to get his own way.

"May I ask why?" He purred.

"Do you want the full ten hour list of reasons why not, or the summary?" Heather asked drily. Alejandro pretended to ignore her sarcasm.

"Oh, the ten hour version please, _mi àngel_." He smirked, and Heather scowled- she needed to remember that sarcasm didn't work on Alejandro.

"I can sum the ten hours into two words," she sniffed, before pausing for effect. "It's. Stupid."

Alejandro chuckled slightly. "You are the most stubborn person I have ever met." He said, though the tone of the words were almost complementary. Heather rolled her eyes.

"You are _way_ more stubborn than me," she argued for the sake of arguing, folding her arms tightly and sticking her chin out in an _and-that-is-that_ manner. Alejandro had to laugh again at the irony of this- Heather was attempting to argue that she wasn't stubborn by acting even more stubborn.

"I must disagree; you are far more stubborn than I am, _chica_." He smirked. "Once you make a decision, you never change your mind, no matter how much you regret it-"

Heather gave a loud scoff, flipping up a hand in a dismissive gesture. "Puh-lease. That is so not true..."

Alejandro stared down at her, face contorting into a very sly expression that instantly made her suspicious.

"Then prove it- change your mind about having dinner with me..."

"Fine, I _will_-" Heather began unthinkingly, then stopped at the look of triumph on her boyfriend's face, her own face darkening significantly. The stupid jerk had just managed to persuade her, once again, into doing what HE wanted...

"You will? Oh, I am so honored!" he teased, while Heather's lips pursed tightly.

"I didn't mean that!" she spat. "You think you're so smart, don't you?"

"I know I'm smart," Alejandro informed his girlfriend casually. At her visible irritation, the spainiard draped an arm loosely around her shoulder, face softening into a serious expression for a moment.

"Please, _chica_? All I ask is that you allow me to have a _romántico_ dinner with you." He leaned in, lips hovering close to her ear. "I know you want to..."

He was dangerously close to her, and feeling his arm around her and breath tickling the back of her neck distracted Heather more than it should have. Both teenagers knew that Heather was admitting defeat when, with a dull sigh, she relaxed slightly into his arms.

"You'd have to make sure your family wasn't there," she muttered firmly. "Or your maid."

"Of course not," Alejandro assured her, but she could hear the smug, gloating undertone in his voice. He'd just gotten what he wanted, once again.

Alejandro always managed to get his own way...

* * *

At nine in the morning (Heather had been even more irritable than usual, having been forced to wake up early) the teenagers pulled up to the TV studio where they would be interviewed that dat; the only redeeming thing about it was that it wasn't associated with the network that broadcast total drama. While Alejandro seemed all too eager to share his opinions on his and Heather's relationship on live TV, his girlfriend did not share his view, and muttered endlessly about how this was a horrible idea and she had no idea how she would answer any of the questions. Outside, it was threatening to rain; the sky perefctly reflected Heather's gloomy, downcast mood.

As the stagehand ushered them towards the make up trailer, they passed the interview set and Heather let out a curse that echoed through the currently vacated set. The whole area reeked of the kind of irksome daytime TV programs she'd flick past quickly; it was painted vibrant orange colour, with a tacky faux-leather couch and several vases filled with plastic flowers. Heather could already envision some fake-blonde interviewer sitting there, asking them to _share their feelings with the audience_... Her skins crawled. The second they got to the make up trailer, she began taking her irritation on the whole stupid interview on the make-up artists, lashing out at them for the most stupid things. This amused Alejandro; he found it almost cute to see his girlfriend antagonizing people- her anger just made her seem even more beautiful in his opinion, hence why he found it neccessary to tease and infuriate her frequently.

"Uh- hello? I am NOT going on Tv with cheap powdery foundation like that," Heather was scoffing nastily at the make-up girl. The girl huffed slightly, setting down the jar of foundation she'd been about to apply to the queen bee, who leaned back in her make-up chair. She was enjoying this feeling; having people run around after her, and being able to snap at them. Even if it was only a stupid TV interview, she couldn't help feeling a little bit glamorous. However, as one of the studio's hair stylists carefully straightened and brushed through Heather's extensions (the queen bee snapping at her rudely every few seconds to make sure that her precious hair was being treated perfectly) her eyes travelled to the chair beside her, and she fought back a scowl; Alejandro was leaning back as though the swivel chair was a throne, flirting ridiculously with a group of make up women who had flocked around him,

"... And yes, I really did charm that vicious panda," he was bragging. "I just seem to have a natural way with animals..."

The make-up women all giggled pathetically. Heather cleared her throat loudly, before giving them all a red-hot glare when they turned in her direction. Alejandro noted triumphantly how possessive she looked; her face was clearly wearing a _hands off my boyfriend_ expression.

"You're on in ten minutes," one of the producers informed them, and all the flock of brainless girls immediately turned back to Alejandro, the fluorescent lights of the make-up trailer emphasizing just how fake their blonde highlights looked as they all swoone around the latino once more.

"Good luck out there, Alejandro," one of them cooed in a voice that made Heather want to vomit. "We'll all be thinking of you..."

"Um, hello? He's not going to _war_ or anything, you idiots." Heather cut in snappily. This earned her a group of annoyed glares from the girls surrounding Alejandro, though the Latino himself smirked slightly, before flashing the entourage of women his signature grin.

"It has been my pleasure talk to such beautiful _chicas_..." He purred suavely, and Heather (who felt the sudden urge to kick something) could have sworn that one or two of them actually went weak at the knees. The queen bee ascended sharply from the make-up chair, only pausing for a brief moment to evaluate her appearance- she hated the thick amount of foundation neccessary for studio lighting, but knew that it wouldn't look as heavy on camera- before stalking up to the door, giving the make-up girls filthy looks as she did. Alejandro followed, smirking in amusement.

"You weren't jealous of those women, were you?" He teased lowly, and Heather gave him a disgusted look.

"Pfft- No." she scoffed, though both knew it was completely untrue. "Why would I be jealous of a bunch of brainless losers like them?"

Alejandro feigned consideration for a moment. "Well, they were getting a rare chance to talk to _the_ Alejandro Burromuerto..."

Heather held up a hand to cut him off. "Uh, why would that make me jealous? I have to put up with you showing off almost every day."

"I know you love it," Alejandro smirked, before pulling an arm around her as they recognized their TV cue. "And now, our public awaits..."

Heather barely had time to scoff at his obnoxiously formal language before they stepped out onto the set and the audience, mostly comprised of teenage fangirls wearing polyester T shirts with total Drama slogans slapped across the front, began shrieking loudly. While Alejandro waved like royalty to the audience and cameras, Heather looked around haughtily, nose in the air. After all the times she'd been on camera, it seemed less intimidating for Heather to be in the public eye than it would to any normal person. They sat down on the couch, Heather tensing as the cheap, plastic faux-leather material squeaked weirdly. The woman interviewing them was better than Blainely, but that was the only commendation Heather could really give as she looked her up and down; she was clearly one of those exaggerated TV personalities with the garishly colored pantsuit, inch-thick stage makeup and bouffant bleach-blonde hairstyle.

"I'm Ruth Arthurs, and this is _Gossip at Sunrise_!" she crowed out to the audience. "I'm here talking with reality TV's hottest new couple..." The woman paused for effect, which Heather thought was rather stupid considering everyone could already see who was sitting beside her anyway. "...Total Drama's Heather and Alejandro!"

There was a deafening screech, and Heather moved up her hands to clap them over her ears, though Alejandro caught them before she could.

"Now, Heather and Alejandro," the woman- Ruth, she'd introduced herself as- grinned at them, her teeth looking like rows of plastic nubs under her cheap red lipstick. "It's great to be talking with you today..."

"We haven't said anything yet," Heather snapped rudely. A ripple of forced laughter crossed the audience, before Alejandro cut in.

"It is a pleasure to be here," he said suavely, grinning across at the sea of teenage viewers. Several of the girls stared longingly at him, and Heather could have sworn she heard someone shriek out that she was in love with him. Heather turned her head to glare at whoever it was, though she could barely see with the spotlights glaring right down into her eyes.

"Now," the interviewer was still grinning, and she fixed the two teenagers with a demanding stare; her eyes were gleaming almost hungrily with the intent of dishing up as much gossip as she could. "I'm going to get right to the obvious question..."

_Here we go... _Heather shifted broodingly on the couch, already envisioning what the "obvious question" was going to be.

"How are things for you two as a couple?"

Of course; the most stupid question of all, in Heather's opinion. Clearly, if she and Alejandro had broken up or were experiencing major arguments as a couple then they wouldn't be at the interview together, one of Alejandro's arms around her shoulders. However, before she could respond sarcastically, Alejandro gave her a look; he was often able to detect when his girlfriend was about to get irritated (which was, on average, once per minute) and though he enjoyed hearing her biting, rude comments he didn't think that constantly lashing out at the interviewer on TV would be particularly benefitting for her public image.

"I believe that our relationship is going well," he announced, and Heather shrugged uncomfortably; somehow, discussing her relationship with Alejandro felt awkward, since she'd grown so good at hiding it in front of cameras. The buried insecurity inside her half-expected all the fans to laugh at her, catcalling and accusing her of being weak and pathetic, though in reality most of them let out a sickening "_Awww_,". She'd only been on screen for about two minutes, and already the audience was beginning to get on Heather's nerves; they only seemed to be able to scream hysterically or call out as a single organism. The interviewer laughed, doing a frivolous toss of her head and looking at the cameras.

"Well, we're all pleased to hear that!" She said chipperly. "Throughout Total Drama, we could all just feel the sexual tension rolling off you guys!"

_What the hell_? Heather tried desperately not to puke over the TV set, her face turning beetroot red. _The sexual tension? Um... Ew. _

"And we were all rooting for you two to finally break down and kiss! So, when did you both start developing feelings for each other?"

Heather's head snapped around to Alejandro automatically; there was no way she was answering first. She wasn't even entirely sure when she started feeling more than contempt for Alejandro, and was definitely not willing to admit that it had been pretty early on in the game. She was also partially curious to find out just when Alejandro had begun to view her as more than just a pawn to be disposed of. Alejandro considered this for a while, before looking down at Heather, green eyes flashing.

"I would say that my feelings, though it was a long time before they grew pronounced, first began to develop in New York, when I realized that she was the only _chica_ in the game as intelligent, attractive and altogether superior as me." he smirked. Heather forced herself not to look too pleased at the compliment; though it was rather self-absorbed, Alejandro proclaiming someone worthy of him was pretty much the highest compliment anyone could get.

"Isn't that sweet?" the interviewer- Heather had already forgotten her name- asked the audience. " And you, Heather?"

Heather swallowed; it suddenly felt like all the dazzling spotlights in the room were focused on her and her alone, and she was completely clueless as to what to say. Part of her wanted to respond with some safe answer, like '_None of your business_' or even '_I don't know_,' but after what Alejandro had said, that would have made her look completely idiotic. Slowly, she tried to think of what to say.

"Uh..."

When had she acknowledged her feelings for Alejandro? Part of her knew, though the thought disgusted her, that she'd harboured a small crush on him for a long time, possibly even since the beginning of the season. But when had she actually realized that she was falling for the jerk? And what was more, did she really want to reveal that on public TV? Granted, most of her and Alejandro's growing romance, including their first kiss, had been publicised. Still...

"Well- uh- Rhonda," she stalled, and for a second the smile flickered on the interviewer's face.

"It's Ruth, honey." She corrected in a condescending tone, though Heather flapped her hand; she didn't really care what the woman was called.

"Yeah, like it matters... I think that (the queen bee was fighting back finishing the sentence with _It's none of your damn business_) it was since... Uh... Paris?" It felt awkward admitting it. However, Heather did recall that Paris was when she first realized she was growing dangerously close to falling for Alejandro; it had been after she'd narrowly escaped elimination in the Amazon, and had internally resolved to up the little feud blossoming between her and Alejandro. However, the tiniest wisp of her brain had been almost relieved at the knowledge that she would get to spend more time in the game with him, and she remembered feeling so scandalized at the idea. However, there was no way Heather was planning to share any of that with the audience. Though Ruth, or whatever her name was, looked a little disappointed at Heather's brief answer, she continued with the interview.

"So, Alejandro, what was it like competing as a newcomer to the game?"

Heather exhaled slightly in relief; this was a question that didn't involve require her answering or mention her relationship at all. Alejandro launched into a speech about how much of an 'honour' it had been competing with veterans in the game (if that was true, then Heather was a natural blonde; Alejandro frequently went on about how pathetic the other contestants were, and no matter how much he attempted to charm the audience into thinking he thought highly of the other contestantshis very obvious disdain for them had been caught many times on camera during the show anyway) and while he spoke, Heather sat rigidly. This might have been the first time in her life she was relieved that she wasn't the centre of attention...

"So, Heather- when he was introduced in celebrity manhunt, what did you first think of Alejandro?" The interviewer grinned almost patronisingly at her, and suddenly the focus shifted back to Heather; the cameras all pivoted to zoom in on her, and the live audience all turned slightly. Heather straightened up, refusing to look self-conscious on TV, and gave what felt like a neccessary hair-toss.

"I thought he was an arrogant ass." She sniffed bluntly, causing a ripple of laughter from the audience. Ruth let out a strangled little snort that didn't deserve to be called a laugh, and Heather refrained from telling her how pig-like she sounded; she honestly wasn't sure who out of this woman and Blainely was a more irritating Tv interviewer. At least Blainely hadn't made noises that resembled a farmyard animal.

"Ah, first impressions can be so wrong, can't they?"

"What? No." Heather gave Alejandro a very pointed look. "I still think he's an arrogant ass."

There was another, slightly louder ripple of laughter issuing from the audience, while Alejandro smirked, placing his hand on Heather's.

"And I thought she was a _muy_ sexy _chica_." he gave her a sly look, and the devious glimmer in his eyes, combined with the scattered catcalls coming from the audience at his remark, forced Heather to look away quickly for fear of blushing pathetically on TV.

The interview teetered on for ten minutes, with the infuriating presenter prying into every ridiculous nook of their relationship. As it progressed, Heather found herself growing even more uncomfortable, particularly when the subject of marriage arose. She'd never even thought about the idea, and it was another thing that terrified her to even consider. Both her and Alejandro exchanged glances, and she could tell that he was just as uncomfortable with the subject choice as she was; after a few dithery moments, Alejandro finally spoke up with a shrug and a dismissive comment about waiting a few years at the very least. Heather tried to ignore the strange pang that stirred up inside her when Alejandro spoke; _if he hasn't just ditched you in a few years time, that is..._

What was possibly the most beautiful sound in the world was when the woman announced that the interview was drawing them to a close. She thanked the two for being there that day, and while Alejandro bid the audience goodbye with a pointed wink, Heather just gave a haughty nod. The second the lights died down in the studio she srang from the couch, surprised that she'd even survived the hideous interview.

"Ugh, that was so horrible!" she complained fiercely to Alejandro as they left the set. "Please, promise me you'll never sign us up for any 'couple' interview again!"

On their way out, they were offered "lunch"; a tray of highly bruised fruit and tiny sandwiches that looked as though they'd been made several days before. Having not eaten in a few hours, Heather took one, though the borderline stale bread and slimy unidentifiable filling instantly repulsed her.

"At least we can relax now," Alejandro assured her, though when he turned to face her the teasing glint had returned to his eyes. "I am sure that you are looking forward to having dinner with me tonight..."

Heather secretly was, but responded with an irritated groan; there was no way she would admit that she was actually anticipating the dinner he'd manipulated her into agreeing to.

* * *

It was beginning to rain by the time Alejandro had driven them away from the studio and back, once again, to his home. As promised, he'd ensured that his family wouldn't be there to interfere with the dinner he'd planned for Heather- it wasn't a difficult feat, considering his father was constantly travelling anyway, and his mother would do almost anything her son wanted. The Latino was almost always cocky, but currently he looked even more triumphant than usual; he was extremely smug and pleased that he was actually having dinner with Heather. It was something that most coupes did frequently, and unlike Heather he relished the romantic picture that the idea of dinner for two painted.

Heather was surprised Alejandro hadn't crossed the final line into vomit-inducingly-extravagant and booked a private quartet to serenade them- there was pretty much everything else. He'd set up the impressive Burromuerto family dining table as though they were eating at a French degustation restaurant; it was draped with the obligatory tablecloth, fine china, and candlesticks that were probably priceless. To make things worse, the candlesticks were lit and the lights had been switched off in the room; it was going to be dinner by candlelight.

"You are ridiculous, you know that?" Heather groaned at Alejandro, who just smirked.

Never being one to go for the understated approach, the spainiard had opted for what looked like a three course meal, all laid out under silver domes (as though they were from some silent film about british aristocracy) on the table. Heather loathed just how romantic the whole situation was, sitting down gingerly in one of the dining chairs. From the smell seeping from the food laid out before her, Heather guessed that Alejandro must have paid homage to his nationality when selecting the menu- the scents were distinctly _Spanish_.

"So, what is this?" she demanded critically.

" _Langostinos al Fino, Arroz con Bogavante _and_ Texturas di chocolate, Maiz y Limoń._" He recited proudly, the Spanish words rolling off his tongue with perfect accent. Heather roled her eyes.

"In English, Don Juan?"

Alejandro clicked his tongue. "One day, _mi àngel_, I will need to teach you my language... This is shrimp cooked in sherry, this is lobster and rice, and this is chocolate, lemon and corn sorbets."

Typically, it all sounded both difficult to prepare and expensive. (And all, Heather thought begrudgingly, delicious, although the corn sorbet sounded a little weird.)

"Wow, your maid went all out..." Heather muttered, staring at the array of food. Alejandro shook his head.

"No- Ramira was actually relieved of her duties early today," He informed her, and it made Heather roll her eyes at just how casually he spoke about having a maid, as if it was the most commonplace thing in the world. "I thought that it would be a great honour for you if-"

Heather cut him off drily. "You cooked it, didn't you?"

"One of my many talents..." Alejandro grinned, and Heather shook her head incredulously. For someone who found heating up macaroni and cheese difficult, it was almost irritating that her boyfriend was able to prepare a three course meal.

"Was your great grandmother a chef in the top restaruarnt in spain or something?" she asked him sarcastically, recalling all the many irksome times he'd made reference to one talented relative or another. Alejandro's eyes glittered with amusement at her remark.

"No, but my aunt was," he purred. Heather wasn't sure whether or not he was just annoying her, telling the truth or both, so she chose not to respond, picking up the elegant knife and fork and beginning on the first course of the meal, the shrimp. The soft light that the candles shed on the food and table made it all look somehow surreal, and for a brief second Heather found herself caught up in the romantic setting. The three words that had been tormenting her for days began to bubble up on her lips...

"Alejandro?" she murmured softly. "I-"

He looked up, but meeting his eyes Heather chickened out.

"Get me some water?"

"Certainly," he responded, ascending and leaving Heather to internally kick herself. Why were those three words so ridiculously difficult to say? She'd done far harder things before...

As she ate, the Asian tried not to let on just how incredible the food Alejandro had made was; if he knew his cooking was good, then it would pump more air into his already dangerously inflated ego. She tried desperately not to savor the meal, which turned out to be a difficult feat; with the amount that was there, Heather was grateful she'd only opted for a salad during lunch. She could hear the rain pick up outside as she ate daintily, trying not to meet Alejandro's smirk; even though he was eating himself, his eyes seemed to somehow be permanently looking, half-amused, in her direction. The queen bee had been a little apprehensive about the idea of corn sorbet for dessert, but was almost disappointed to find that once again, it was good; the textures and flavours of the intricate chocolates, creams and corns blended together perfectly- This really annoyed her; she'd been dying for something to criticize, purely to annoy Alejandro.

"You will have to cook for me, now, Heather." He told her matter-of-factly, after swallowing his last mouthful of dessert. Heather dropped her spoon with a loud clink, glowering up at him.

"Fine, if you want microwave dinners," she muttered, stretching back in her chair. Alejandro gave her a look of mock surprise.

"Really? The great Heather does not know how to cook?" he tutted, and Heather held back the urge to slap him. "Maybe, I will have to teach you..."

The idea of Alejandro teaching her how to cook was almost mortifying- there were so many different ways that the scenario cold lead to him teasing, flirting with and generally annoying the heck out of her- and she shook her head quickly.

"Please- like I want you showing off even more around me." she muttered, scraping up the last mouthful of the dessert.

"Was it good?" Alejandro queried. Heather feigned a lukewarm attitude.

"Eh, it was Okay..."

Alejandro chuckled,before leaning in closer to her. "Admit it- I'm a talented cook."

Heather rolled her eyes, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back slightly.

"You _think_ you're talented..."

Alejandro tilted in his chair slightly, lips still coiled in a snakelike smirk, the candlelight casting faint smudgy shadows along his face.

"I am talented at many things," he gloated slightly, and Heather let out a harsh laugh at how casually arrogant he was. "You just don't admit it. I'm an excellent cook, driver, boyfriend..."

There was a faint pause, in which a faint gleam appeared in his eyes.

"Kisser..." he added slowly, reaching out to touch Heather's face slightly. Heather's eyes widened, and she could sense the romantic atmosphere that had suddenly dropped in the room.

"I'm a better kisser than you are," she argued softly, and Alejandro grinned at her.

"I may have to test that theory..."

It had been a while since they'd been able to properly kiss, and Heather allowed herself to Savor the moment without pulling away or making any sarcastic remarks. Alejandro's hands moved up to entwine in her hair, lips curving around hers softly. When it broke off, a small and rather stupid argument broke out between the two; Alejandro continued to insist he was better at kissing, while attempting many times to "prove it" by once again kissing her. It was silly, flirtatious behavior but Heather couldn't help enjoying the lightness of the moment. They moved on into one of the many lounge rooms, wasting a good chunk of the evening with pointless banter and arguments, until Heather finally remembered that she needed t get home early or face another humiliating sex talk from her mother.

"I'd better get back, now. It's nearly-" Heather's eyes darted lazily to Alejandro's watch, though they almost bugged out when she saw the time. "What the hell? How did it get so late?"

Her almost-peaceful demeanor broken now, she pulled sharply from Alejandro's arms, snatching up her purse and trying to remember the way back through the maze of rooms to Alejandro's front door. However, as he saw her fling open the door, Alejandro called out her name, stopping her; he felt the sudden urge to tell her...

When Heather paused, face curled in dry confusion he hesitated for a moment, though as Heather turned away the words quickly spouted from the Spaniard's mouth- somehow, he felt like if he didn't say it now, then he wasn't sure he ever would be able to.

"_Iloveyou_."

Heather froze. Unlike Alejandro's usual smooth, pronounced way of speaking his words had been barely legible, but she'd heard them. He'd implied it, or said those words merely to tease her, but this was the first time he'd officially uttered that stupid little phrase to her...

The first thing that came into her head was rather childish, considering the moment.

_What? But I was going to say it first! Ugh, stupid Alejandro! Always has to beat me... _

It took her a few moments to realise what this meant. If he was telling the truth, then he loved her. He loved her, and was willing to tell her outright. Heather was speechless; she found herself practically gawking at him in a cumbersome way.

"You what?" she spluttered, before cringing at how stupid her voice was. Alejandro tilted an eyebrow slightly

"I said that I love you," He replied softly. Once the words had finally left his mouth, they seemed so much easier to utter. However, for just a moment, Alejandro was frozen at Heather's shocked expression; what if she turned him down now, or was too confused? However, after a brief moment, the tiniest hint of a genuine smile graced her face.

"I... Love you too," The words were choked out in barely a whisper; Heather couldn't recall if she'd ever actually said that to anyone. Without warning Alejandro's arms were suddenly around her, and he was pressing his lips to hers once again. Heather knew that a few minutes later, she would be disgusted with herself for acting so... _Sweet_ and human. However, she resolved to allow herself just this one moment of weakness, before slipping back into her hard, aloof self.

Alejandro loved her... He _loved_ her...

The idea made her almost euphoric. However, no matter how genuinely happy she was, she still couldn't silence that tiny voice at the back of her head that told her this was all still some big game to him.

* * *

**Well, this was the last filler chapter. ****Sorry about how lame this was. Again. But next chapter, something that's actually interesting will happen! Fanfiction's being WEIRD and says that "due to technical difficulties" it will take at least two hours for my new chapter to load (um, why?) so I will have to leave the FF window open on my IPad overnight :**

**I'm REALLY hoping to get the next chapter up before All Stars premieres (Alejandro and Heather had BETTER be together...) but I have exams, so I'll have to wait and see what happens... See y'all later :)**


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